Theme Reflected from Metaphors in Avril Lavigne's Song “Sk8er Boi”
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THEME REFLECTED FROM METAPHORS IN AVRIL LAVIGNE’S SONG “SK8ER BOI”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By IRENE PUTRI LARATSEMI 154214115
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2020
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THEME REFLECTED FROM METAPHORS IN AVRIL LAVIGNE’S SONG “SK8ER BOI”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By IRENE PUTRI LARATSEMI Student Number: 154214115
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2020
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Believe that God’s timing is perfect.
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For PAPA & MAMA
And Depressed and unmotivated old Irene. Girl, you did it.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
God has given me enough I shall praise His name in every aspect of my life.
Life is not an easy journey, but my very first gratitude goes to Jesus Christ for always listening to my unintelligent complaints and madness I made by myself. He has guided and made me hold on to everything. Thanks God, I finally finished my undergraduate thesis.
My gratitude is also addressed to Anna Fitriati S.Pd., M.Hum., as my advisor who patiently guided me and help me in writing this undergraduate thesis.
Also to my co-advisor, Arina Isti’anah, S.Pd., M.Hum., I am thankful for the helpful advices. This undergraduate thesis is presented primarily for Papa and Mama who fully supported me through their prayers and fulfilled everything I need during my study. I am also blessed by having friends in English Letters Department who always encourage yet discourage each other in the way that I love. Thank you, guys.
Irene Putri Laratsemi
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ...... ii APPROVAL PAGE ...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH .. vi MOTTO PAGE ...... vii DEDICATION PAGE ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... x LIST OF TABLES ...... xii ABSTRACT ...... xiii ABSTRAK ...... xiv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 5 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 5 D. Definition of Terms ...... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 8 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 8 B. Review of Related Theories ...... 11 1. Semantics ...... 11 2. Metaphor ...... 13 a. Nominal Metaphor ...... 17 b. Predicative Metaphor ...... 18 c. Sentential Metaphor ...... 19 3. Theory of Theme ...... 20 C. Theoretical Framework ...... 21
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 23 A. Object of the Study...... 23 B. Approach of the Study ...... 24
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C. Method of the Study ...... 24 1. Data Collection ...... 24 2. Data Analysis...... 25
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ...... 25 A. Metaphorical Expressions in Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” ...... 25 1. Nominal Metaphor ...... 26 2. Predicative Metaphor ...... 37 3. Sentential Metaphor ...... 46 B. The Theme of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” ...... 48
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 53 REFERENCES ...... 55 APPENDICES ...... 57 Appendix 1: “Sk8er Boi” Lyrics ...... 57 Appendix 2: The Classification of the Metaphorical Expressions ...... 58 Appendix 3: The Meaning of the Metaphors in Avril Lavigne’s Sk8er Boi Song ...... 59
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LIST OF TABLES
No. Table Page
1. Table 1. Example of the Analysis of Metaphor 22 2. Table 2. Types of Metaphor in Avril Lavigne’s Song “Sk8er Boi” 24 3. Table 3. Nominal Metaphor 25 4. Table 4. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “He Was A Punk” 27 5. Table 5. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Did Ballet” 27 6. Table 6. Analysis of Metaphor “They Have A Problem with 28 His Baggy Clothes” 7. Table 7. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “They Have A 29 Problem with His Baggy Clothes” 8. Table 8. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “He Was A 30 Sk8er Boi” 9. Table 9. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Has a Pretty 31 Face, But Her Head Was Up in Space” 10. Table 10. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Five Years from 32 Now, She Sits at Home” 11. Table 11. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “And 33 They’ve All Got Tickets to See His Show” 12. Table 12. Predicative Metaphor 34 13. Table 13. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “But All of 35 Her Friends Stuck Up Their Nose” 14. Table 14. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Said 36 “See You Later, Boy”” 15. Table 15. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Come 37 Back Down to Earth” 16. Table 16. Analysis of Metaphoric Expression “Sk8er Boi 38 Rocking Up MTV” 17. Table 17. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Tags 39 Along” 18. Table 18. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Looks up at 40 The Man That She Turned Down” 19. Table 19. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Now 41 He’s A Superstar, Slamming on His Guitar” 20. Table 20. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “There Is 42 More Than Meets the Eye” 21. Table 21. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Haven't 43 You Heard How We Rock Each Other’s World?” 22. Table 22. Analysis of Metaphor “Feeding the Baby, She’s 44 All Alone” 23. Table 23. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Has a Pretty 45 Face, But Her Head Was Up in Space”
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ABSTRACT
LARATSEMI, IRENE PUTRI. (2019). Theme Reflected from Metaphors in Avril Lavigne’s Song “Sk8er Boi”. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Music helps people express their experiences, feelings, and thoughts which are best described through song lyrics. Song lyrics are written in literal and non- literal meaning. Through song lyrics, the song carries a message that the songwriter tried to deliver. The message of the song represents the theme of the song. As mentioned before, some songwriters write their song uses literal language, and some songwriters use figurative language specifically metaphor in their songs. Avril Lavigne is known to have a straight-talking style, but as a singer and songwriter, she also uses metaphors in her songs. This research aims to discover the used of metaphorical expressions in Avril Lavigne’s song “Sk8er Boi” by identifying its literal and metaphorical meaning. Then, the metaphorical expressions are classified into the types of metaphor. This research’s objective is also to reveal the theme reflected from the metaphorical expressions used in the song. To facilitate the analysis process, semantic approach is used to discover the use of the literal and metaphorical meaning of the lyrics. The theory of metaphor is also applied to classify the metaphorical expressions into nominal, predicative, and sentential type of metaphor. The theme is drawn by perceiving the shared properties of the literal and metaphorical meaning of each metaphor. As a result, sixteen metaphorical expressions are found in the song with eight nominal metaphors, nine predicative metaphors, and two sentential metaphors. As seen in the classification of the type of metaphor, the number of predicative metaphors is the highest which indicates that the text is an easy-to-read discourse. The theme that can be drawn is “Look beyond someone before judge them”.
Keywords: metaphor, theme, song lyrics.
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ABSTRAK
LARATSEMI, IRENE PUTRI. (2019). Theme Reflected from Metaphors in Avril Lavigne’s Song “Sk8er Boi”. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Musik menjadi sarana dalam mengekspresikan pengalaman, perasaan, dan pemikiran yang diungkapkan melalui lirik lagu. Lirik lagu ditulis mengunakan bahasa yang bersifat harfiah dan kiasan. Penulis lagu mencoba menyampaikan pesan di dalam lagu melalui liriknya. Pesan dari lagu merupakan representasi dari tema lagu. Seperti yang sudah disebutkan sebelumnya, beberapa penulis lagu menulis menggunakan bahasa yang bersifat harfiah, dan beberapa menggunakan bahasa yang bersifat kiasan khususnya metafora di dalam lagu mereka. Avril Lavigne dikenal memiliki gaya bicara yang tidak bertele-tele, namun sebagai penyanyi dan penulis lagu, ia juga menggunakan metafora dalam lagunya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat penggunaan ungkapan metafora dalam lagu Avril Lavigne “Sk8er Boi” dengan mengidentifikasi arti harfiah dan kiasan. Ungkapan metafora tersebut lalu diklasifikasikan ke dalam jenis-jenis metafora. Penelitian ini juga bertujuan untuk mengungkap tema yang terlihat dari penggunaan ungkapan metafora di dalam lagu. Untuk membantu proses analisis, teori semantik digunakan untuk melihat arti harfiah dan kiasan dari lirik lagu. Teori metafora juga diaplikasikan untuk mengklasifikasi ungkapan metafora ke dalam jenis-jenis metafora yaitu, nominal, predikatif, dan sentensial. Tema tergambarkan dengan melihat properti-properti yang sama antara arti harfiah dan arti kiasan di setiap metafora. Hasilnya, enam belas ungkapan metafora ditemukan dengan delapan metafora jenis nominal, sembilan metafora jenis predikatif, dan dua metafora jenis sentensial. Seperti yang terlihat di klasifikasi jenis metafora, jumlah metafora jenis predikatif mencapai angka tertinggi yang mengindikasikan bahwa teks ini adalah wacana yang mudah dibaca. Tema yang terbentuk adalah “Lihat lebih dalam sebelum menilai seseorang”.
Kata Kunci: metaphor, theme, song lyrics.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Music has been a part of human life. It cannot be separated from our daily life because almost all of our activities contain music within. Though we are not musicians, we listen to music on any purpose. Unconsciously, we live with various emotions and “music recreates emotional life in sounds” (Korsakova-Kreyn, 2010, p.27). Music, as the language of emotions, perhaps is a bridge to the human way of thinking and feeling (Korsakova-Kreyn, 2010, p.3) which mostly expressed through song lyrics.
The lyrics of the songs usually show people’s expression of their experience, feeling, and thought. When someone is sad, he/she tends to listen to music that has a slow and sad melody and which has lyrics that describe them best. So does when someone is happy, he/she intends to listen to music that has an upbeat rhyme and has lyrics that describe them best. Song lyrics have the power to give a particular impression to the song which makes the listeners understand the message that the songwriter tried to convey through the song.
In writing song lyrics, a songwriter is usually inspired by the issues that happened around or by things they experienced themselves in life. The issues could be various like the issues that occurred in a particular society, issues that emerged in family or love life, and so on. As the writer has mentioned above, in every song, there must be a message that the songwriter tried to deliver through the lyrics of the
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song. The message of the song represents the theme of the song. The theme of the song is revealed through the message that is carried out by the lyrics.
Some songwriters write their lyrics in a literal language, which means that the lyric is not that difficult to interpret because it has already presented the message, but some songwriters use figurative language in their song lyrics.
According to Locke in Goatly’s, figurative language is an application of words that allow us to interpose one idea with other ideas (1997, p.1). It means that figurative language works as a representation of an idea that is substituted with another idea.
The use of figurative language in any literary work including song lyrics is usually to draw the unconventional use of language (Goatly, 1997, p.3).
Some figurative languages that are usually used in song lyrics are hyperbole, simile, and metaphor. Hyperbole makes an exaggeration of language usage (Ortony,
1993, p.97), for example, “Now it’s your turn to cry, cry me a river” a song by
Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River (Examples of Hyperbole, n.d, para.5). Simile and metaphor basically have a similarity. They both compare two things. Unlike metaphor, simile always uses ‘like’ or ‘as’ in its expression (Ortony, 1993, p.62), for example: “My heart is like an open highway” a lyric from It’s My Life song by
Bon Jovi (Examples of Simile, n.d., para.5). As stated by Goatly above, figurative language has a function to emphasize the unconventional use of language, and in this case, this research focuses on the use of a figurative language, which is metaphors in song lyrics.
Lakoff and Johnson state that metaphor is “a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish—a matter of extraordinary rather than
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ordinary language” (2003, p.3). In other words, metaphor is a concept that is used to substitute another concept based on the human’s experience. For example, a song from Michael Bublѐ entitled “You’re Everything” has many metaphor expressions, one of them is “You’re the line in the sand when I go too far.” This metaphor has a meaning that you, who are addressed in the song, keep the person who sings the song within the appropriate boundaries. The concept ‘you’ is substituted by the concept ‘the line in the sand.” In our understanding, the line in the sand is usually used to measure the border of the beach to keep us to not go too far into the sea due to safety. In finding the meaning of the metaphorical expression, the listeners’ knowledge of certain situations is necessary. Usually, the knowledge of particular circumstances is obtained through experiences that happened around and our interaction with physical surroundings (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003, p. 56-57). The way we transmit one concept to another concept is grounded in our basic conception because “the metaphor is built into the conceptual system of the culture in which you live” (2003, p.64).
Song lyrics that use metaphorical expressions usually create a more dramatic effect on the listeners. It is because the listeners will use their imagination and creativity based on their experiences when interpreting the meaning of the metaphor. As a language device to explore the use of language, metaphors could be used to define the meaning of the song. In other words, the listeners can conclude the message of the song from the metaphorical expressions. The message of the song has a similarity with the theme of the song. In this research, the writer is
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interested in revealing the theme of Avril Lavigne’s song through metaphorical expressions.
Avril Lavigne is a singer from Canada who became famous after she released her first album entitled Let Go in 2002, which included the smash singles
“Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi” and sold more than 16 million copies all over the world. She has already released five albums in total, and she also has earned eight
Grammy Award nominations. As a young pop-punk singer at that time, Lavigne said that her songs are about her experiences and anything she has been through.
“Sk8er Boi” is listed as the second most popular song within all Avril
Lavigne’s songs with number listened on Spotify 183.671.868 times (seen in
Spotify App). It shows that this song is very popular that though it is published more than a decade ago, “Sk8er Boi” still have listeners and even is the second most listened on Spotify.
Avril Lavigne has a style of straight-talking which influences her songs.
Most of Lavigne’s songs are the kind of lyric that is less unpoetic because she tries to address the meaning of the song as direct as she can. However, because she is also a songwriter, she uses metaphors in writing her songs which need the listeners’ knowledge and imagination to interpret the meaning behind it. “She needed to come back down to earth” and “How we rock each other’s world” are some examples of the metaphorical expressions that would be analyzed in this research.
In this research, a song entitled “Sk8er Boi” from the album Let Go (2002) is the object of the study. The lyrics of this song are taken as the data of this research. The lyrics in Avril Lavigne’s song attract the writer’s curiosity because
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she uses various types of metaphorical expressions to carry the messages of the songs. The messages of the songs delivered through the metaphorical expressions are analyzed and discovered to attain the theme of the song.
B. Problem Formulation
To analyze this study, the writer has formulated two questions to be answered. The questions are as follows:
1. What types of metaphorical expressions are used in Avril Lavigne’s song
“Sk8er Boi”?
2. What theme is reflected from the metaphors in Avril Lavigne’s song
“Sk8er Boi”?
C. Objectives of the Study
There are two objectives that will be obtained in this research. The first purpose is to discover the metaphorical expressions in Avril Lavigne’s song and to interpret the meaning. Once the interpretation of the metaphors is identified, then the metaphors will be classified into its type so that the function can be seen. The second purpose of this research is to find out the theme of the song that is reflected from the metaphors in the song lyrics. After identifying the types of metaphor found in the lyrics, the meaning of each metaphorical expression will be interpreted. The meaning of the metaphors will reveal the message of the song which then would help to reveal the theme of the song.
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D. Definition of Terms
To earn understandable research, some terms will be described. This study focuses on metaphors in song lyrics and how the metaphors will contribute to revealing the theme of the song. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the object of this study is song lyric, and the central issue of this study is metaphors. The metaphorical expressions will be analyzed, and the use of the metaphors will help to reveal the theme of the song.
Song lyrics are the words, sentences, or phrases in a song and are associated with instrumental complement (Jackson and Prins, 2014, p.1). The difference between lyric poetry is laid on how the lyric is performed. The song lyric is sung meanwhile lyric poetry is read. But progressively, “lyric is a way to describe the essence of poetry” (2014, p.1)
Metaphor is a concept which substitutes another concept, and its “meaning arose from interactions and tensions between the literal meaning of the lexical item and the concept it was metaphorically applied to” (Goatly, 1997, p.5). The comprehension of individual words of a metaphorical expression is needed when discovering its meaning as well as understanding the literal meaning of the entire expression, and knowledge about the world (Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2014, p.150)
A theme is the main idea of a text which usually functioned as the root of the story, but it is not a statement that is equivalent to the whole story (Barnet,
Burto, and Cain, 2008, p.103). In the writing of any kind of literature text, including song lyrics, the theme is necessary to maintain the focus of the story (2008, p.103).
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In song lyrics, the function of the theme is the same as any other literary work. The theme emerges as the main point of the story and meaning in the song. It is the representation of the message of the song.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In this chapter, the writer explains the related studies and theories which are used to answer the problems of this research. The related studies are reviewed to comprehend the other studies which have the same work or topic, and the theories are applied as the approach to analyze the problem formulations.
A. Review of Related Studies
There are two undergraduate theses and two journal articles that discussed the use of metaphor. The writer compares those studies with this research, the similarity and the difference that occur.
A study conducted by Serat (2017) discusses metaphorical expressions found on song lyrics and how the metaphors contribute to reveal the theme of the songs. Her data is taken from four Hozier’s songs which contain metaphorical expressions. Serat’s study uses a semantic approach and theory of metaphor as well which helps to find the meanings of the metaphorical expressions. She categorized the metaphorical expressions into three different types: structural, orientational, ontological. Then she found out the meaning of the metaphors. The meaning of the metaphors and the shared concept then were used to reveal the theme of the songs.
As the result, Serat found 7 structural metaphors, 14 ontological metaphors, none for orientational metaphor, and there were 2 themes found within 4 songs that were analyzed.
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This research is related to Serat’s study because this research has the same objectives and uses song lyrics as the object of the study. The main issue of the study is also similar, which are metaphor and theme. The difference lies on the types of metaphor used and the number of the songs selected. Serat’s study used four songs, while this research uses one song.
The next study is from Sutiyono (2013), which discusses the figurative language used in song lyrics. The data for his study is taken from Avril Lavigne’s song album. His study aims to see the kinds of figurative language used in the songs, and then to affirm which one is the most dominant kind of figurative language used in the songs. Sutiyono’s study also provides the singer’s biography to understand the songs better. In his research, Sutiyono finds that there are seven kinds of figurative languages, such as anaphora, hyperbole, repetition, simile, personification, parallelism, and metaphor in the songs. The most dominant figurative language used in the songs is hyperbole because the song lyrics seem to have more exaggerating statements.
From the findings in Sutiyono’s study, it can be seen that he used many kinds of figurative language. However, this research only uses one kind of figurative languages, which is metaphor. Based on this research’s findings, the type of metaphor that is used dominantly is predicative metaphor which also indicates that the text used is an easy-to-read discourse.
This research is related to Sutiyono’s study because the object of the study that both used are taken from the same author/singer. The difference lies on the choice of the songs and the figurative language used. This research discusses
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figurative language precisely metaphor. Meanwhile, Sutiyono’s study examined all kinds of figurative language.
Another study that analyzes metaphor is a study conducted by Kasbekar
(2011). He examines the use of imagery and metaphor in a novel. He finds that the author of the novel tried to present the characters through metaphors. For example,
“The White Tiger” metaphor refers to the protagonist’s character in the novel. It has a meaning that the character’s personality is like the White Tiger. Kasbekar concludes that the imagery and metaphor used in the novel look insignificant, but they give an impact on the understanding of the whole story.
This research is related to Kasbekar’s study because this research also discusses the use of metaphor. The difference between this research and his study is the object of the study and the use of metaphor. This research takes song lyrics as the object, meanwhile Kasbekar’s study takes a novel as the object. The use of metaphor in both studies are different because Kasbekar’s study analyzed the use of metaphors to present the characters in the novel, while this research reveals the theme of the song through metaphors.
The last related study is conducted by Eldin (2014), who also discusses the use of metaphor. Eldin uses the Holy Quran as his object of the research and tries to find the meaning of the metaphorical expressions. The data taken for his study are some verses in the Quran. The purpose of his research is to discover the conceptual level of metaphor in the Quran and to understand the strength of metaphor and its role in the Quran. He finds out that the use of metaphor in the
Quran shows a persuasive effect that makes the reader consider the messages and
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follow the teachings. The use of metaphors in Quran also forced the readers to convey the intended meaning of the verses by analogizing it to something related in the world.
Since Eldin’s study analyzes the use of metaphor, it is quite relevant to this research. This research uses song lyrics as the object, meanwhile, Eldin’s study uses the Quran as the object. Eldin’s study also analyzes the use of metaphor to obtain a better comprehension of the interpretation of the metaphorical expressions in the
Quran. Meanwhile, this research analyzes the use of metaphor to obtain the theme of the songs by discovering the meaning of the metaphors in lyrics metaphorically.
The previous studies help this research by accelerating the broad topic and approach which are related to this research. For the two first studies, this research elaborates on the main idea, which is metaphors in song lyrics, found in the studies.
Meanwhile, in the two last studies, this research develops a new idea by using a different object and analyzing metaphors to reveal the theme.
B. Review of Related Theories
This part contains the theories that will be used in this research. The theories will help the writer to analyze the data. Since this research deals with meaning in language and uses literary work as the object, the semantic approach is appropriate to be the basic theory of this research.
1. Semantics
The term to refer to the study of meaning is semantics (Palmer, 1981, p.1).
According to Palmer, language will have closeness with a set of signs when it is
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regarded as a communication system. Saussure in Palmer’s labels this idea with the
‘signifier; and the ‘signified’ (1981, p.5). The signified refers to the concept and/or the meaning where the thing is indicated by the signifier.
In understanding the meaning of words, sentences, or phrases, the speaker and hearer are required to understand the context of the conversation to achieve the same understanding. Specifically, every word has some valuable properties which are used as a tool to provide information on the word. The information which gives clues and definition carried by the word is called semantic property (Fromkin,
Rodman, and Hyams, 2011, p.175). The semantic property works by illustrating specific elements of a word to clarify its meaning.
The use of symbol + and – indicates the semantic property of the word.
Below is an example of some words and their semantic properties:
Whale Dog Bird
+animate +animate +animate
+animal +animal +animal
+sea creature -sea creature -sea creature
+mammal +mammal -mammal
The list above shows that whale, dog, and bird have similar properties which are animate and animal. The differences are that dog and bird is not a sea creature and bird is not a mammal.
The word meaning is essential to achieve an effective communication because both the speaker and hearer are required to have the same understanding of the content they talk about. As stated by Kempson, “All languages depend on words
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and sentences having meaning: every word and every sentence is conventionally associated with at least one meaning” (1977, p.2), this statement is related to the development of word meaning. Multiple and various meanings can be found in one word. The use of language is very complicated that some words do not mean what they are supposed to mean in literal. In other words, besides literal meaning, there is also transferred meaning.
Transferred meaning represents the meaning of one word by transferring the word into another concept (Palmer, 1981, p.103). Its purpose is to depict the other meaning of a word because some words or phrases cannot be understood directly thus transferred meaning is needed. As an example, a phrase “break the ice” could have both literal and transferred meanings. For the literal meaning, this phrase would literally mean to break the ice or the frozen water. However, “ice” in this idiom is used to depict the coldness and tense situation. Ice has cold temperatures, and it is the same as the situation that is full of tense and coldness. “Break the ice” has a meaning to make people feel more comfortable in a tense situation Literal meaning and transferred meaning play an essential role in clarifying the meaning of the ideas in the utterances.
2. Metaphor
Metaphor is one of the figures of speech which happened by comparing one concept with another concept. Goatly defines metaphor as follows:
Metaphor occurs when a unit of discourse is used to refer unconventionally to an object, process or concept, or colligates in an unconventional way. And when this unconventional act of reference or colligation is understood on the basis of similarity, matching, or analogy involving the conventional
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referent or colligates of the unit and the actual unconventional referent or colligates. (1997, p.8)
The statement above means to say that when a word, phrase, or sentence is applied to depict something, then it is a metaphor. It is applied unconventionally to refer to a conventional object or concept. To simplify, a metaphor “is a device for seeing something in terms of something else” (Burke as cited in Lynne & Low, 1999, p.3).
As an example, a phrase ‘Love is blind’ is a metaphor because blind refers to love. To understand the meaning of that phrase of metaphor, the reader should lay based on similarity, matching, or analogy that engages the conventional concept and the actual unconventional concept. From the example, the meaning of ‘love is blind’ metaphor is that someone who is in love does not see or is blind to the appearances of the person he/she loves. In addition, this metaphor is categorized into the type of predicative metaphor (the discussion about types of metaphor will follow). It is because ‘blind’ which acts as the vehicle is a predicative adjective.
Meanwhile, the topic in this metaphor is ‘love’.
As in the example above, one conventional concept is substituted with another unconventional concept. The conventional concept and the unconventional concept occur to have similarities. The concept here means the word/s that is/are used to refer to the unconventional unit. The actual unconventional unit is the Topic, the conventional referent of the unit is Vehicle, and the similarities and/or analogies involved are the Grounds. If we have a sentence “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” we may see that the concept ‘the past’ is the Topic, the concept ‘a foreign country’ is the Vehicle, and the Grounds or the similarity is the
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concept ‘they do things differently there’ as it is the fact that both in the past and in a foreign country things are done differently (Goatly, 1997, p.9).
Palmer says that when a word appears to have both a ‘literal’ meaning and one or more ‘transferred’ meanings, it is a metaphor (1981, p.103). It means that one entity could have a certain meaning in one context. The meaning is not shared with other entities. The literal meaning can be found in the dictionary, but the transferred meaning needs special knowledge to interpret it. Transferred meaning is also acknowledged as metaphorical meaning since it transmits the expression of metaphor. Below is the idea of metaphor.
Figure 1. The Idea of Metaphor
Metaphor
Topic Ground Vehicle
Literal meaning Transferred meaning
Referring to the literal meaning and the transferred meaning, the interpretations of metaphors that both meanings carry are different from each other.
The interpretations of metaphors may create new knowledge that develops through empirical comprehension.
Black in Ortony’s argues that metaphor functions as a cognitive instrument that construe a new knowledge through creating similarities by changes in word meanings (1993, p.5). That new knowledge emerged as a result of the experience
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that happened in our life. Creating similarities between the literal context and the words in metaphors is how the interpretations of metaphor can be made. The similarities that appear are the results of changing in word meanings.
In song lyrics, the use of metaphor is to make the song more dramatic to the listener. According to Scher, metaphor in song lyrics is seen significant because it functions to emphasize the essence of the song lyrics (1992, p.93). It also has a purpose to convey the meaning the songwriter is trying to deliver. From the metaphors in song lyrics, the listener should be able to interpret the message of the song.
There are several ways to identify metaphors. In this case, the Topic,
Vehicle, and Grounds are the goals that need to be identified. Usually, the Grounds are not always provided in metaphors. We might find that one metaphor does not always consist of the three units (Topic, Vehicle, and Grounds) as mentioned by
Miller in Ortony’s that among the three units, at least two are always retained because if there were only one retained then the expression cannot be marked as a metaphor (1993, p.385).
As lexical items, Topic and Vehicle could be represented by any word class.
One of the most obvious ways to identify metaphors is by categorizing them according to the word-class to which the Vehicle belongs. The word-class noun is found to be the most recognizable among the other member of word-class (e.g. the raindrop eye). Verb, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions give less rich interpretations that make them less likely to be recognized as metaphorical (Goatly,
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1997, p.82-92). This makes the nominal (nouns and noun phrases) metaphor as the most common or typical (Lynne & Low, 1999, p.15).
According to Miller in Ortony’s (1993, p.385), the classification of metaphor is divided into three types. They are nominal metaphors, predicative metaphors, and sentential metaphors. a. Nominal Metaphor
Nominal metaphor is a type of metaphor in which the vehicle is expressed by a noun phrase that is used metaphorically (Ortony, 1993, p.383). The common metaphoric form for this type follows the format x is y or x is the y of x’. However, any kind of forms that shows the use of noun phrase as metaphor is considered as metaphors. As an example, “fish needs its air” that has no format mentioned above is considered as metaphor because we all know that fish lives in water, fish cannot live without water. It means that the air is the water for the fish and this analogy derived from the metaphor air that has the same understanding with ‘human needs air to live’. This is applicable to metaphors that can be analogized with another concept within the metaphor.
In order to analyze a nominal metaphor, one should lay the analysis based on the analogic comparison (Ortony, 1993, p.383). The underlying analogy that emerges is derived from the understanding that some semantic properties of the topic is like some semantic properties of the vehicle. The analogy is used to exemplify how the metaphor is formed.
A metaphoric expression “The toes are the fingers of the foot” can be illustrated as “some property of the toes is like some property of the fingers”. This
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illustration is simply derived from the analogy that finger is related to hand while toes is related to foot. As the topic in this metaphor, toes has similarity with fingers, the vehicle in this metaphor. It is clearly understood that toes and fingers have the same shape in general but only different in the place where they are located. This kind of analogic thinking is the result of our conceptual knowledge.
Besides, nominal metaphors also have another characteristic which is the omission of the Grounds, but the Topic and the Vehicle are retained. As seen in the example in the previous paragraph, there is no ground that appeared, but the topic and the vehicle emerge. b. Predicative Metaphor
Predicative metaphor is defined as a type of metaphor in which the Ground is expressed by a predicative phrase such as verbs, verb phrases, or predicate adjectives (Ortony, 1993, p.384). In other words, this kind of metaphor is marked by the predicate in the expression that is used metaphorically. Its characteristic is the omission of the Vehicle, and the Topic and Grounds are retained.
This type of metaphor shows an act done by the subject in the metaphoric expression. The subject is doing something to the object. In order to interpret a metaphor, another predicate and entity are needed to be compared with the predicate and entity of the expression. For example, "Mrs. Gandhi steamed ahead” will produce understandings like “Mrs. Gandhi is doing something which is like something steaming ahead” (Levinson, 1983, p.153). This metaphor for example can be understood as “Mrs. Gandhi’s progress in election is like a ship steaming ahead” (Levinson, 1983, p.153). In this metaphor, the ground is ‘steamed ahead’
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which is a verb phrase that do something to ‘Mrs. Gandhi’ which performs as the
Topic.
Another example is “The teacher is roaring” which is an example of the verb used metaphorically. Simply, this metaphor has an understanding that “The teacher is doing something like roaring”. Thus, it can be analogized that “The teacher’s angriness is like a lion roaring” where we know that when a lion roars, it is frightening. The topic in this metaphor is “The teacher” and the ground is “is roaring” which performs as the verb.
For the example of predicative adjective, we may see an example in the previous pages that mentioned “Love is blind”. In this metaphor, its meaning is derived from an understanding that person who loves is like a blind person, which means that he/she does not see the appearance of someone he/she loves. The topic in this metaphor is ‘love’, and the predicative adjective ‘blind’ is the ground. c. Sentential Metaphor
Sentential metaphor is described as a type of metaphor whose referent is not preserved in the metaphor (Ortony, 1993, p.385). It means that this kind of metaphor exists when the referent of the metaphor cannot be found in the text.
However, in order to comprehend the interpretation of the metaphor, one must infer from the text or context it grasps. This type of metaphor can also be identified if it omits the Topic, but retains the Grounds and the Vehicle.
As an example, a sentence “John has lost his marbles” appears in a text that has nothing to do with marbles. This sentence is unacceptable since it brings
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unsuitable context in the text. Therefore, sentential metaphor is indicated by the emersion of the Vehicle that is not a discourse referent (Ortony, 1993, p.385).
3. Theory of Theme
As one of the most essential aspects of literary work, theme takes a big role in developing the work. Theme can be defined as the main idea of the work or the point of the story. Barnet, Bruto, and Cain explain that in literary work, what happens is the plot, but what the happenings add up to is the theme (2008, p.103).
It means that theme functions as something that guides the way the story flows. It is also supported by a statement by O’Connor who says that a story is a way to say something that cannot be said and that “something” is the theme (O’Connor’s in
Barnet, Burto and Cain, 2008, p.103).
A theme is an idea that can be expressed in a single word, a phrase or even a statement that concludes a full understanding of the story (Roberts, 1987, p.319).
The theme does not present the message of the story; instead, it gives us an insight into the meaning of the story because theme is “a conception of human experience suggested by concrete details” (Barnet, Burto, and Cain, 2008, p.1594).
In songs, the lyrics may give us some clues to the theme it implies. To come to the theme, it is not merely guessing the idea, but it needs observation of some factors of the song lyrics, such as the story depicted in the song, the point of view of the song, and the meaning of the language used in the song: literal language and non-literal language (figurative language).
The meaning of the figurative language used in song lyrics help us to comprehend the meaning of the story in the song. By understanding the meaning of
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figurative languages that are used, the whole meaning of the song can also be understood. As the meaning of the song is gained, the theme can be drawn. In this research, specifically the figurative language that is used is metaphor.
C. Theoretical Framework
The studies and theories that have been reviewed above give a substantial contribution to answering the problems of this research. The related studies take an essential role for the writer in providing the references for this research and building up the writer’s further understanding of semantics and metaphor. The theories advocate this research in analyzing the problems.
The theory of semantics is needed to facilitate the writer’s understanding of the meaning of the object of the study. Since the research deals with the use of metaphor in song lyrics, which demands the understanding of the literal and transferred meaning or metaphorical meaning, semantic approach is necessary and is applied to this research.
Meanwhile, the theory of metaphor is applied to identify the metaphorical expressions in the song lyrics. It also helps the writer to obtain the metaphorical meaning of each metaphor. The theories are combined to support the writer’s analysis by examining the expressions between the literal meaning and the metaphorical meaning. Hence, after the entire meaning of the song is analyzed, the theme of the songs can be identified.
In order to find the theme of the song, the theory of theme is used. The analysis is based on the entire meaning of the song that has been found within the
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previous analysis. Since theme is an idea that concludes a whole understanding of the story, the writer applies the theory of theme to see the concept of the song.
To sum up, the theory of semantics and the theory of metaphor are used to answer the first research question of this research. Meanwhile, the theory of theme is employed to answer the second research question.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the method of the procession of analyzing the object of the study and is divided into three parts. The first part is the object of the study, which describes this research object. The second part is the approach of the study applied as the tool of the analysis. In the last part of this chapter, the method of the study, the way or method to answer the problems formulated in this research is explained.
A. Object of the Study
The use of metaphors in song lyrics and its contribution to the theme of the songs is the main issue of this research. The song lyrics are the object of this research. The writer used a song by a famous pop-punk singer who came from
Canada, Avril Lavigne. Her song is entitled “Sk8er Boi” from the album Let Go.
In 2002, an album Let Go was released and sold more than 16 million copies all over the world. Lavigne’s carrier was on top with the song “Sk8er Boi” as the most popular song from the album. This song also brought Lavigne to win the Best
Female Rock Vocal Performance award.
“Sk8er Boi” song contains sixteen metaphoric expressions and is consisted of three verses and three choruses. As a pop-punk young singer at that time,
Lavigne’s songs are well-known by the straight-talking lyrics which she wrote by herself, including this song. Though the lyrics of her songs seemed forthright, she
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also often used metaphors in some of her songs which need the listeners’ knowledge and imagination to interpret the meaning behind it.
B. Approach of the Study
Semantic approach is chosen in this research to discover the theme through metaphorical expressions. According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, semantics is defined as “the study of the linguistic meaning of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentence” (2014, p.140). Since this research focused on the words, phrases, and sentences that are considered as metaphors, semantic approach helped the writer to distinguish the literal meaning and transferred meaning of the data. As the result, the writer was able to interpret the metaphorical meaning of the song lyrics. The interpretation of the song meaning then were used by the writer to find the theme of the songs.
C. Method of the Study
1. Data Collection
To answer the problems formulated, firstly the data need to be collected.
The initial step was choosing the song and observing its lyrics. The lyrics were observed in order to find metaphoric expressions as many as possible. To define the metaphoric expressions, the writer looked at the context of the expressions, and how the expressions affect its literal meaning. If the context of the expressions is non-sense to be interpreted literally or there is something implied in the meaning, the lyrics are considered as non-literal. The writer then identified the population of all metaphors in the song and classified it into three types according to the theory
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of metaphor in the previous chapter. Finally, the writer began to interpret the metaphors.
The data of the research was in the form of song lyrics. The song lyrics were the lyrics from Avril Lavigne’s song entitled “Sk8er Boi”. This song was selected due to its popularity. The song lyrics were obtained from http://www.genius.com.
This source was trusted and reliable as it directly cooperated with the singer and the songwriter in providing lyrics from many songs.
2. Data Analysis
After collecting the data, the metaphors in the songs which were the central issue of this research were identified. The writer then applied the theory of metaphor to classify the metaphorical expressions according to the type of metaphor. The metaphorical expressions were elaborated using a semantic approach which then produced literal and metaphorical meaning. To define the literal meaning, the writer used Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8th Edition.
Using cognitive knowledge, the metaphorical meaning was interpreted by the writer. To do the interpretation, any cognition was needed by comprehending the context of the expressions. Then, both meanings were compared to each other using semantic properties. Below is the example of the analysis:
Table 1. Example of the Analysis of Metaphor
Metaphor Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared Expression Meaning Meaning Metaphor concept There is more Sees the eye Sees the physical Predicative [+object] than meets thing the eye
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In the example, the metaphor in the expression was meets the eye.
According to the dictionary definition, meets was stated to be in the same place as somebody. Thus meets the eye was defined as to be in the same place as the eye or simply when something sees the eye. The other meaning of this metaphor was seeing physical things. This meaning was conceived by the knowledge that what is needed by the eye is an object to be seen.
After defining the literal and metaphorical meaning, the metaphor was classified into its type, whether it is nominal, predicative, or sentential, using the theory of metaphor. In this metaphor, meets, that acts as the Ground, is doing something to the eye which is the Topic. Furthermore, this metaphor is a verb phrase in the sentence which then can be classified as a predicative metaphor. The shared concept was established by applying semantic properties to both meanings, which then will be used in defining the theme. For this metaphor, the shared concept is [+object]. The rest of the metaphoric expressions would also be analyzed to obtain the whole meaning of the song.
In answering the second problem which concerned in reflecting the theme, all of the metaphorical expressions that have been identified and interpreted were tailored into a story to make the understanding of the song easier. The comprehension is also followed by the shared concepts found. The writer then concluded the theme of the song by elaborating the semantic properties built from literal meaning and metaphorical meaning and seeing the full meaning of the story in the song.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter discusses what metaphorical expressions used in the song and the theme reflected from the metaphors in the song. The writer would apply the theories presented on the reviews to the metaphorical expressions to obtain the theme of the song.
A. Types of Metaphoric Expressions in Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi”
In this part, the metaphorical expressions found in Avril Lavigne’s song
“Sk8er Boi” are explained. There are sixteenth metaphorical expressions found in the song. Within the metaphorical expressions, 19 metaphors are established and classified into three types of metaphor; they are nominal, predicative, and sentential.
Below is the table of the types of metaphor found in Avril Lavigne’s song “Sk8er
Boi”.
Table 2. Types of Metaphor in Avril Lavigne’s Song Sk8er Boi
No. Types of Metaphor Frequency 1. Nominal 8 2. Predicative 9 3. Sentential 2
From the table displayed above, there are 9 nominal metaphors, 9 predicative metaphors, and 1 sentential metaphor found in the song. The analysis of each metaphor is explained within the sub-chapters organized based on the types of metaphor.
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1. Nominal Metaphor
As mentioned above, there are eight metaphors within six metaphorical expressions belong to this type. They are as follows:
Table 3. Nominal Metaphor
No. Metaphorical Expression 1. He was a punk, she did ballet 2. They had a problem with his baggy clothes 3. He was a sk8er boi 4. She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space 5. Five years from now, she sits at home 6. And they’ve all got tickets to see his show
As seen in the table above, there are two metaphorical expressions that contain two metaphors each. While the rest of the metaphorical expressions in this nominal type only contain one metaphor each. The metaphorical expressions in the table are analyzed further in the next discussion. a. He was a punk, she did ballet
There are two metaphors contained in this metaphorical expression. The other metaphor is analyzed in the discussion after this. This metaphorical expression shows that there are a boy and a girl who do different things and both are opposite to each other.
The first metaphor in this metaphorical expression is punk which according to OALD means “a type of loud and aggressive rock music popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s”, “a person who likes punk music and dressed like punk musician, for example by wearing metal chains, leather clothes and having brightly colored
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hair” (2010, p.1189). Literally, the sentence “He was a punk” shows that the boy in the song is a person who likes punk music, dressed like a punk musician.
Meanwhile, a punk characteristic is likely to be rude and carefree. Usually, people see punk as a person who behaves rudely and aggressive.
In this metaphor, the concept of punk is the vehicle, and the idea ‘he,’ which is the boy, in the song is the topic. Metaphorically, the writer illustrates that the boy in the song has a characteristic like a punk, which is rude. The literal and metaphorical meanings from this metaphor share the same concept which is
[+harsh]. In this metaphoric expression, the vehicle is expressed by a noun phrase, and the topic is retained. Meanwhile, the ground is omitted. Thus, this first metaphor in this metaphorical expression is categorized as a nominal metaphor.
Table 4. Analysis of Metaphor “He Was A Punk, She Did Ballet”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept He was a punk, A person A rude Nominal [+harsh] she did ballet who likes character punk music and dressed like a punk musician
b. He was a punk, she did ballet
The metaphor she did ballet can be transformed into a sentence like ‘she is a ballerina’ which also produce an understanding that she did ballet. Ballet, according to OALD, is defined as “a style of dancing that tells a dramatic story with music but no talking or singing” (2010, p.98). Based on our conceptual knowledge, ballet is often recognized as a style of dance that performs its soft and gentle moves.
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The sentence she did ballet literally means that the girl is a ballerina who made soft and gentle dance moves.
As the vehicle, ballet represented the character of the Topic. In this expression, the Topic is “she” which refers to the girl in the song. In metaphorical meaning, the expression meant to show that the girl in the song has a tender characteristic. The same shared concept between the literal and metaphorical meaning of this metaphor is [+gentle]. Since the vehicle of this metaphor is a noun, thus this metaphor is categorized as a nominal metaphor.
Table 5. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “He Was A Punk, She Did Ballet”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept He was a punk, A style of A tender Nominal [+gentle] she did ballet dancing that character. performs its soft and gentle moves.
c. They had a problem with his baggy clothes
Problem is defined by OALD as “a thing that is difficult to deal with or to understand” (2010, p.1167). Based on our experiential understanding, a problem is said to be a problem when we found that there is something wrong with something.
In our daily life, we often meet problem which emerged in various shapes. Literally, problem means there is something wrong. In this metaphorical expression, the writer describes that they, who refers to the girl in the song’s friends, feel something wrong. Usually, people will have a disagreement when there is something wrong.
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The conflict leads to a dislike towards that something. In this case, that something is his baggy clothes.
In metaphorical meaning, problem means something that is disliked. Thus, in this metaphorical expression, the girl in the song’s friends have a sort of hatred of something. The semantic features shared between the literal meaning and metaphorical meaning is [+disagreement]. The metaphor problem stands as a noun phrase in the expression. Therefore, this metaphor is categorized as a nominal metaphor.
Table 6. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “They Had a Problem with His Baggy Clothes”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept They had a A thing that Something Nominal [+disagreement] problem with is difficult that is his baggy to deal with disliked. clothes or to understand
d. They had a problem with his baggy clothes
The other metaphor in this metaphorical expression is baggy clothes. OALD defines baggy as “(of clothes) fitting loosely” (2010, p.96). This term is usually used for clothes that are not tight. Baggy, as the signifier, signified the word clothes.
According to OALD, clothes is “the things that you wear, such as trousers/pants, dresses, and jackets” (2010, p.267). In literal meaning, the metaphor, baggy clothes, means attire that is loose or not fit or tight to the body.
When people wear certain outfits, it usually defines the identity or the group where they belong. Baggy clothes are mostly worn by people who follow the
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fashion of skateboarders. In other words, a skateboarder or skater boy usually wears clothes with a loose style. Not meaning to say that all people who wear baggy clothes are skateboarders, but in this context, the writer connects the relationship between the boy in the song with the lyrics of the song. Loose clothing style usually represents the rebelliousness of a person. Stereotypically, skateboarder or skater boy is characterized as a rebellious person because they have a free soul, which that is why they do skate and wear loose attire.
Baggy clothes not only represent the style of fashion of skateboarders or skater boys but also the characteristic it holds within the person who wears it. In this case, the boy in the song is the person who wears baggy clothes. Thus, metaphorically, baggy clothes means the rebelliousness of the boy in the song.
Baggy clothes in this metaphorical expression acts as the topic. It has semantic properties of [+freedom]. This metaphor is categorized as a nominal metaphor as it has a vehicle that stands as a noun phrase.
Table 7. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “They Had A Problem With His Baggy Clothes”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept They had a Attire that is Rebellious Nominal [+freedom] problem with loose. characteristic. his baggy clothes
e. He was a sk8er boi
The spelling of sk8er boi could be read as ‘sk(eight)er boi/y’ and pronounced /‘skeɪtə(r) bɔɪ/ which then the spelling can be transmitted into ‘skater boy’. OALD defines skater as “a person who skates for pleasure or as a sport”
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(2010, p.1390). As the signifier, skater signified boy. Boy is defined by OALD as
“a male child or a young male person” (2010, p.166). Therefore, skater boy literally means a young male person who skates.
As already discussed in the previous metaphor, the term skater boy represents the rebellious character of a person. Even though not all of the skateboarder is a rebellious person, but they are mostly labeled with this personality.
Those who do skate are known for their rebellious character as they are independent and do not like being ruled. A man who adopts the style and attitude of a rebellious skateboarder is usually called a skater boy. Thus, skater boy is not merely a young male person who skates, but it is a slang name for a man who adopts the style and attitude of a rebellious skateboarder. Also, skater boy is considered as metaphor because there is no information in the lyrics that mention the activity of skating done by the boy.
As the vehicle in this metaphorical expression, skater boy stands for the topic ‘he’ which is the boy in the song. Since skater boy represents the personality of a skateboarder, the shared concept that can be drawn between the topic and the vehicle is [+rebel]. This metaphoric expression contains a noun phrase as its vehicle. Thus, it is categorized as a nominal metaphor.
Table 8. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression of “He Was a Sk8er Boi”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept He was a sk8er A young A rebel person. Nominal [+rebel] boi male person who skates
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f. She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space
Head, according to OALD, is defined as “the part of the body on top of the neck containing eyes, nose, mouth, and brain” or “the mind or brain” (2010, p.691).
From the definition, it can be concluded that head is something that is related to the brain because the head contains brain (OALD, 2010, p.691). The brain controls all of the parts of the body’s activities. It also takes part in managing our minds and behavior. If there’s a sentence ‘Use your head,’ it is intentionally saying to use your brain to think as well. Another sentence like ‘Her head is getting bigger’ literally talks about the size of the head, but in the other context, it can be understood as someone that is snobbish. This analogy is related to personality.
The word head shows the person as a whole that includes mind and personality since the word head is used in such brain and personality phrases. Thus, this is the metaphorical meaning of the metaphor head. This metaphor is classified into a nominal metaphor since it is a noun phrase in the sentence of the expression.
The shared concepts suitable for this metaphor is [+human].
Table 9. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Had A Pretty Face but Her Head Was Up In Space”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept She had a pretty The top part The person as Nominal [+human] face, but her of the body a whole, head was up in including space his/her mind and personality
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g. Five years from now, she sits at home
According to OALD, home is “the house or flat/apartment that you live in”
(2010, p.718). The word home is usually used for describing a place where we can rest, and we are free from any work outside the house. People with a job, usually do the work outside the house so then when they are home, it means they are free from work. Despite having a job or not, you do not have to be outside to be considered as employed.
In this metaphorical expression, it depicts a situation where the girl sits at home either she has a job or not. People typically see someone who stays at home as a person who is unemployed, moreover if he/she stays at home for a long period of time. Unemployed means that someone has no job or work to do for a living.
Metaphorically, the word home emphasizes the status of the unemployed girl. The other previous lyrics show how the girl rejects the boy, and five years later, the girl just staying at home.
The shared concept of this metaphor is [-employed] as the situation depicts metaphorically in this expression is about the unemployed condition. The metaphor home in this expression is a noun phrase, which then makes it belongs to the nominal metaphor type.
Table 10. Analysis Metaphor of “Five Years from Now, She Sits at Home”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept Five years from A place to A condition of Nominal [-employed] now, she sits at rest being home unemployed
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h. And they’ve all got tickets so see his show
Tickets, as defined by OALD, is “a printed piece of paper that gives you the right to travel on a particular bus, train, etc. or go into a theatre” (2010, p.1561).
Basically, tickets is used as an official form when attending events or traveling by public transportation. To come to a performance, exhibition, theme park, etc tickets are usually obligated to be shown before entering the venue. Tickets are the official proof that you are allowed to enter the place where the performance, exhibition, theme park, etc. are held on. This metaphorical expression portrays a situation where all the girl’s friends have the tickets to see the boy’s music performance.
On the other side, tickets in this lyric also carries another meaning besides literal meaning. Since the situation shows that the boy is about to perform his music, it marks the success of his music career. The metaphor tickets symbolizes the entrance or the way of the boy’s music career. The shared concept that can be seen is [+door]. The categorization of this metaphor is a nominal metaphor because the metaphor used here is a noun phrase.
Table 11. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “And They’ve All Got Tickets to See His Show”
Metaphoric Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept And they’ve all An official A way to the Nominal [+door] got tickets to form for the success of the see his show entrance to a boy’s music performance career
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2. Predicative Metaphor
Predicative metaphor is a type of metaphor that uses verb, verb phrase, and predicative adjective metaphorically. For this type of metaphor, there are nine metaphorical expressions found in the song. They are as listed below.
Table 12. Predicative Metaphor
No. Metaphoric Expression 1. But all of her friends stuck up their nose 2. She said “see you later, boy” 3. She needed to come back down to earth 4. Sk8er boi rocking up MTV 5. She tags along, stands in the crowd 6. Looks up at the man that she turned down 7. Now he's a superstar, slamming on his guitar 8. There is more than meets the eye 9. Haven’t you heard, how we rock each other's world?
The analysis of the expressions belong to the predicative metaphor is discussed further below. a. But all of her friends stuck up their nose
This metaphorical expression has a situation where the girl’s entire friend had a particular gesture towards the boy. According to OALD, stick up is defined as “to point upwards or be above a surface” (2010, p.1464). Stuck up is the simple past formation of stick up. In this expression, all of the girl’s friends stuck up their nose, which means they point their nose upwards. This gesture is usually made by people who think they are more superior to other people. The girl’s entire friends
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are feeling superior and higher so that they do the act of pointing their nose upwards.
In other words, they are arrogant. Arrogant people are people who think that they are more important and at a higher level than other people.
Since stuck up their nose acts as a verb and is used metaphorically in the sentence, it is classified into a predicative metaphor. The act of pointing the nose up and being arrogant have the concept of being on top, then the concepts shared between the vehicle and the topic is [+above].
Table 13. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “But All of Her Friends Stuck Up Their Nose”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept But all of her They point They are Predicative [+above] friends stuck up their nose arrogant. their nose upwards.
b. She said “see you later, boy”
The metaphorical expression, “she said “see you later, boy” here is addressed to the boy from the girl. In literal meaning, it is interpreted as a farewell expression that contains a wish to meet again later in some other time. On the other side, the context it carries has another meaning. This metaphor contains sarcasm.
Metaphorically, “see you later boy” is meant to illustrate that the girl rejects the boy. This illustration is depicted by the farewell expression which usually used to end a meeting. The girl ends her encounter with the boy, but she means to say that she is not going to meet him again. This also means that their relationship ends. If their relationship ends, it means that the girl rejects the boy.
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The metaphor see you later boy in this metaphorical expression is in a direct sentence and is a verb phrase. The metaphor is a verb phrase that is used metaphorically, and for this reason, this metaphor is classified into a predicative metaphor. Since this metaphorical expression shows a farewell and rejection concept, then the shared concepts it has is [+separate].
Table 14. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Said ‘See You Later, Boy’”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept She said “see Hope to Reject the boy Predicative [+separate] you later, boy” meet again with the boy another time
c. She needed to come back down to earth
This metaphorical expression is the continuation from the lyric “…her head was up in space”. This expression talks about the girl who needs to come back down to earth. OALD defines come as ”to move to or towards a person or place” (2010, p.282) and defines back as “to or into the place, condition, situation, or activity where somebody or something was before” (2010, p.91). Meanwhile, the definition of down is “to or at a lower place or position” (2010, p.439). Then, come back down means towards the lower place where the girl was before.
The previous lyric talks about space. Meanwhile, this metaphor talks about earth. Space and earth are two things that are separated by a very long distance.
According to OALD, earth is “the planet that we live on,” “the land” or “the ground” (2010, p.461). If space is above, then earth is below. The situation illustrated in this metaphorical expression shows that the girl needs to come back
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down to the earth after she was up in space. Metaphorically, the phrase meant to say that after the girl behaves in a superior way, she needs to come back to the attitude she was before which is inferior. The word down in the expression highlights the position or the attitude she supposed to be, which is inferior. If it made into an analogy, superior is up, and inferior is down.
The metaphor come back down to earth in the expression performs as a verb phrase that is used metaphorically. Thus, it is classified into a predicative metaphor.
As this metaphorical expression displays the lower and/or inferior aspect, the shared concepts obtained is [+below].
Table 15. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Needed to Come Back Down to Earth” Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept She needed to Towards the Behave Predicative [+below] come back lower place inferior down to earth
d. Sk8er boi rocking up MTV
As explained in the metaphoric expression ”He was a sk8er boi”, sk8er boi or skater boy is the boy in the song. The situation illustrated in this metaphorical expression is the boy is rocking up MTV (a music television channel). OALD defines rock as “to move gently backwards and forwards or from side to side,” and
“to shake or to make something shake violently” (2010, p.1281). Despite the difference meaning from the dictionary, which the first one is gently and the second one is violently, the point is rock literally means moving or shaking something.
Meanwhile, MTV is a popular music television channel. Since the word rock is followed by a preposition up and a noun MTV, the literal meaning of the metaphor
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would be nonsense, but it can be assumed that the skater boy is playing his music on MTV, and his performance is incredible.
On the other side, the metaphorical meaning of this expression is the boy’s music career is increasing, which is proven by his music performance shown up in the famous music television channel. Rocking up MTV would be comprehended as something is incredibly amazing that it showed up on the most famous music television channel.
Since this metaphor emphasizes how increasing the boy's music career is, the shared concept emerge here is [+rise]. The metaphor rocking up MTV is categorized as a predicative metaphor because the verb in this metaphorical expression is used as the metaphor.
Table 16. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Sk8er Boi Rocking Up MTV”
Metaphorical Literal meaning Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning Metaphor concept Sk8er boi The skater boy His music career Predicative [+rise] rocking up shaking up a is extremely MTV music television increasing channel
e. She tags along
The situation drawn in this metaphorical expression is that the girl comes to the boy’s performance. OALD defines tags along as “to go somewhere with somebody, especially when you have not been asked or invited” (2010, p.1519). from the definition, it can be seen that the girl comes to the boy’s show without being invited even from her friends.
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In the previous lyric, it is told that the girl’s friends are going to watch the boy’s performance as they already got the tickets. Then the girl uninvitedly also comes to the boy’s performance. Her friends, who once did not like the boy, are now watching the boy’s performance. It means that her friends are no longer on her side. Moreover, her friends do not invite her to go with them. This can be considered as a betrayal in friendship.
This metaphor is categorized as a predicative metaphor since the Grounds of this metaphor is a verb phrase. Since the metaphor discussed is about betrayal in friendship, the concept shared from this metaphor is [-faithful].
Table 17. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Tags Along”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept She tags along Come with Betrayed by Predicative [-faithful] somebody someone uninvitedly
f. Looks up at the man that she turned down
The situation in this metaphorical expression shows that the girl is looking up at the boy that she rejected as the boy is on stage performing his music, and the girl is within the audience's side in the music concert. According to OALD, look up is “to raise your eyes when you are looking down at something” (2010, p.879). It means that the girl is staring at the boy. Metaphorically, look up can be interpreted as an act of admiring someone. People usually show the act of praising by looking or staring at someone they admire. Even though the act of looking or staring someone is not always mean that we are admiring someone, but by looking or staring at someone we can tell that it is the act of admiring that person.
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Looks up metaphor is classified as a predicative metaphor because it is a verb phrase in the sentence lyric. The concepts appear in this metaphorical expression show an activity that is related to stare that shows admiration. Therefore, the shared concepts of this metaphor are [+stare] and [+admiration].
Table 18. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Looks up at The Man That She Turned Down”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept Looks up at the Stare up Show Predicative [+respect] man that she admiration turned down
g. Now he's a superstar, slamming on his guitar
According to OALD, slam is “to shut with a lot of force,” “making a loud noise” (2010, p.1394). Slam is usually done by hitting the part of something so it would make a noise. It is generally related to a door with the use of a sentence like
‘She slams the door behind,’ which means that she shut the door and give it a noise.
Slamming on guitar is usually done by musicians or guitar player. This act is not by shutting the guitar, but by playing it so it will make a noise.
This metaphorical expression shows that the boy now is a superstar, and he is slamming his guitar. Everyone can be a superstar without slamming on guitar, so does everyone can slam on guitar without being a superstar. This metaphor gives full information about the boy is a superstar and he is slamming on his guitar. This is also an indication that the boy is on top of his career which is shown by the act he is doing. Since the situation depicted here demonstrates how the boy becomes a
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musician, the shared concept emerges is [+music]. The metaphor slamming on his guitar is a verb phrase that performs as the Ground. Meanwhile, the Topic is ‘he,’ and the Vehicle is ‘superstar.’ Therefore, this metaphor is categorized as predicative metaphor.
Table 19. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Now He’s A Superstar, Slamming on His Guitar”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept Now he’s a The boy is The boy is now Predicative [+music] superstar, playing becoming a slamming on guitar famous his guitar musician
h. There is more than meets the eye
According to the OALD, meet means “to be in the same place as somebody by chance and talk to them,” “something to do or satisfy what is needed or what somebody asks for” (2010, p.923-924). The metaphor meets the eye can be literally interpreted as when somebody sees the eye. However, meets the eye is more than that. It means something is enough for what is needed by the eye. As a part of the body, what eye needs is an object to be seen, and what can be seen is only the physical thing. Therefore, this metaphorical expression “There is more than meets the eye” meant to say that it is not only the physical thing or the appearance that is looked at, but there is also something else.
Since this metaphorical expression uses a verb phrase metaphorically, the metaphor is categorized as a predicative metaphor. The shared concepts lay among the meanings is [+object].
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Table 20. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “There Is More Than Meets the Eye” Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept There is more Seeing the Seeing the Predicative [+object] than meets the eyes physical thing eye
i. Haven’t you heard how we rock each other's world?
This metaphorical expression shows a situation where the singer states the fact that she and the boy are dating and how they rock each other’s world. The word rock has been discussed in the metaphorical expression “Sk8er Boi rocking up
MTV”. It has a meaning to move or shake something. The literal meaning of this expression is to shake each other’s world or life.
As shaking something would give an effect to the receiver, it can be meant as something good because movement is always considered as an improvement. In life, we consider an improvement when it can make us feel pleased. The word rock is not only meant to move or shake something, but in this expression, it has a meaning to give a pleasant feeling or happiness.
As rock music gives a pleasant feeling to its hearer, and the situation portrayed in this expression is about the two lovers who are in love and make each other happy, the shared concept built here is [+happiness]. This metaphor is classified into a predicative metaphor since the verb phrase in this expression is used metaphorically.
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Table 21. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Haven't You Heard How We Rock Each Other’s World?”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept Haven’t you Move or shake Pleasant feeling Predicative [+happiness] heard how we something rock each other’s world?
3. Sentential Metaphor
This type of metaphor has two metaphorical expressions within the song.
The metaphoric expression is Feeding the baby, she’s all alone and She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space with the metaphor underlined.
The first metaphoric expression has a metaphor feeding the baby. According to OALD, feed is “to give food to a person or an animal” (2010, p.542), meanwhile baby is “a very young child or animal” (2010, p.89). the literal meaning of this metaphor is giving food to a very young child. A baby needs food from its mother in the form of mother milk, which can only come from a mother.
The word baby has a strong relationship with mothers, especially the activity of feeding the baby like breastfeeding, which is only done by mothers. This metaphor shows that the girl is now a mother by the act she does. In addition, the girl is now a single mother due to the information in the metaphorical expression that says 'she's all alone’. Since the metaphorical meaning of baby has no reference in the text analyzed, then this metaphor is categorized as sentential metaphor. The shared concepts it carries between the literal meaning and metaphorical meaning is
[+motherhood].
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Table 22. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Feeding the Baby, She’s All Alone” Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept Feeding the Giving Activity done Sentential [+motherhood] baby, she’s all food to by a mother alone baby
The second metaphor in this sentential metaphor type is head was up in space. The word head has already discussed in the nominal metaphor part. Head has a literal meaning “the top part of the body” and metaphorical meaning “a person as a whole including his/her mind and personality”. According to OALD space is
“the area outside the earth’s atmosphere where all the other planets and stars are”
(2010, p.1425). Meanwhile, OALD defines up as “towards or in a higher place or position” or “to or at a higher level” (2010, p.1639). Up is followed by the preposition in which then we can see that up in space literally means at the space.
In literal, head was up in space means that the head was in space.
Since it seems impossible for ordinary people or even a head to travel the space, this metaphor is meant to say that up in space is towards a high place as high as space. When being in high places, people usually relate it with a wealthy not- suffering life. Moreover, people who have a good and wealthy life will feel superior because they think that other people life is nothing compared to them. Therefore, the metaphorical meaning of head was up in space is a situation in which someone has a personality of being superior to others.
Head was up in space is categorized as a sentential metaphor because it has nothing to do with the girl’s head actually. As seen in the previous clause, the first clause is talking about the girl’s pretty face, but then the second clause talks about
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her head that is up in space. Since the context of this metaphorical expression is about being in a high place compared to the superior feeling, the shared concepts it has is [+above].
Table 23. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “She Had A Pretty Face, But Her Head Was Up in Space”
Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept She had a pretty The head is Someone has a Sentential [+above] face, but her in a high personality of head was up in place being superior space to others
B. The Theme of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi”
In this part, the metaphorical expressions found within the song are elaborated with their metaphorical meaning and shared concepts in order to find the whole meaning of the song. Once the whole meaning of the song revealed, the theme can be drawn. Based on the previous discussion, there are 16 metaphoric expressions found within the song. Those expressions are divided into three categories of types of metaphor. As the result, 8 nominal metaphors, 9 predicative metaphors, and 2 sentential metaphors are obtained. The most number is predicative metaphor with total of 9 metaphors.
In nominal metaphors, the noun is the focal word and the verb would be the main focus in predicative metaphor. In arranging any kind of sentence, nouns and verbs are two essential compositions. In general, nouns act as the subject or entity, and verbs act as the action or predicate that tie the nouns together to form a sentence.
The use of nouns makes texts abstract as they propose no time description
(Hellspong & Ledin, 1997, p.68), and verbs can make a text easier to read and more
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interesting because of the dynamic and idea-flows the verbs give to the text
(Koskela, 1998, p.163). Based on the metaphors found within the song, it shows that verbs are used more than nouns. Therefore, the song lyric can be indicated as an easy-to-read discourse.
The lyric of the song depicts a story about the failed love story of a boy and a girl, which is told by the third-person point of view. In the very first lyric, it introduces the boy and the girl by the metaphor, “He was a punk, she did ballet”.
In this metaphorical expression, two different things were seen, as shown in the shared concepts [+harsh] for the metaphor punk and [+gentle] for the metaphor ballet. It shows that the boy and the girl’s personality are opposite to each other.
Afterward, the next lyrics tell about how all the girl’s friends behave towards the boy. As shown in the lyric, “But all of her friends stuck up their nose” which metaphorically means that all of the girl’s friends are arrogant. This expression has shared concepts [+above]. Then the lyric is followed by the next relational lyric, which is ”They have a problem with his baggy clothes”. It tells that they do not like the boy’s appearance as seen in the shared concept [+disagreement].
The boy’s appearance also indicates his rebellious personality that closes to love of
[+freedom]. For that reason, the girl’s friends do not like the boy.
Then the next lyric, “He was a sk8er boi” states that the boy is a skater boy, which metaphorically means that he has that rebel character as a skater boy.
Skater boy is often labeled as someone who has a rebel personality. This strengthens the reason for the previous lyrics. This metaphor comes up with the shared concept
[+rebel].
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Since all the girl’s friends dislike the boy, it makes the girl rejects him as stated in the lyric “She said, “see you later, boy””. This expression shows not only goodbye but also a rejection towards the boy which leads them to [+separate]. She also acts superior towards the boy as in the lyric “She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space” which has shared concepts [+human] and [+above]. Her act is actually an impact resulted from her friends’ attitude. The singer then says that the girl needs to come back as she was before which expressed in the lyric “She needed to come back down to earth”. Specifically, to come back as she was before which means to become less superior as seen in the shared concept [+below].
The next lyric tells about the life situation after 5 years. It is said that five years later, the girl sits at home. As shown in the shared concept [-employed], the situation where the girl sits at home carries a meaning that she has no occupation, or in other words, she is unemployed. Then it is followed by the next lyric that voices the girl situation. It says, “Feeding the baby, she’s all alone” with the shared concept [+motherhood]. This lyric indicates that the girl is now a mother as the activity emphasizes her status as a mother.
Then the singer tells about the life of the boy. As stated in the lyric, “Sk8er boi rocking up MTV” with the shared concept [+rise], the boy’s life is on the edge of success. His music career is on the top as he is performing on MTV, which is the biggest music television channel.
Moreover, the next lyric tells that the girl’s friends will come to the boy’s performance because they all have the tickets. As in the shared concept of the expression [+door], the lyric shows how successful is the boy now. While her
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friends are no longer on her side, which seen by their coming to the boy the used to hate’s show, the girl comes to the boy’s show uninvitedly. As in the metaphoric expression “She tags along”, the girl is betrayed by her friends. This metaphor comes up with shared concept [-faithful].
She finally “looks up at the man that she turned down”. This carries a metaphorical meaning that the girl is not only staring at the boy, but she adores him, the boy who she rejected five years ago. To be naïve, the girl has no idea what the boy has become, and she regrets it. The singer then clearly stated that the boy is now a superstar who slams on his guitar as in the metaphoric expression “Now he’s a superstar, slamming on his guitar”. This means that the boy is now a famous musician and his music career is on top which is shown in the shared concepts
[+music].
The next expression shows something related to physical things, but there are some lyrics that support the comprehension of the storyline.
Well, tough luck, that boy's mine now We are more than just good friends This is how the story ends Too bad that you couldn't see See the man that boy could be There is more than meets the eye I see the soul that is inside
The lyrics above give us a situation where the boy now is dating the singer, as seen in the lyric “that boy’s mine now”. The singer also blames the girl that she could not see the potentials the boy has. This is because the girl has rejected the boy five years ago, and now the boy is a successful musician.
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Then the singer explicitly states that she could see what the boy has, which is expressed in the metaphorical expression “There is more than meets the eye”. The meaning of this metaphor is that there is something more than just physical things, which means that the singer does not see the boy’s appearance, but his potentials and personalities. The shared concepts created from this metaphorical expression is
[+object].
Finally, the singer states how she and the boy affect each other’s life. As seen in the shared concept [+happiness] in the metaphoric expression, ”Haven’t you heard how we rock each other’s world?”, the metaphorical meaning it carries shows that these two lovers give happiness to each other’s life.
From the discussion above, it can be seen that the story depicted in the song is showing an ironic situation. A boy has been rejected by a snobbish girl because of his appearance, but then he becomes successful musician. Meanwhile, the girl is an unemployed single mother. In the end of the song, we can see that the boy and the singer is a couple that live happily. The shared concepts found within the metaphorical expressions also support the idea in revealing the theme of the song.
Therefore, the theme of the song that can be drawn as “what goes around come around”.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
This chapter presents a summary of the analysis result discussed in the previous chapter. The analysis part is the answer to the research problems stated in the first chapter. The metaphorical expressions used in the song are classified into three types of metaphor, then the metaphorical meaning and the shared concepts found are analyzed further to reveal the theme of the song.
In the first part of the previous chapter, there are sixteen metaphorical expressions with 19 metaphors found within Avril Lavigne’s song. These metaphors are categorized into three types of metaphor, and the result found is 8 nominal metaphors, 9 predicative metaphors, and 2 sentential metaphors. The frequency of predicative metaphors reaches the highest number amongst two others.
It shows that the object of this research is an easy-to-read discourse.
The metaphorical meanings and shared concepts are elaborated to reveal the theme of the song. From the shared concepts in some metaphorical expressions such as [+human], [+disagreement], [+separate], [-faithful], [-employed], [+rise],
[+respect], [+happiness], the probable theme that can be drawn is “what goes around comes around”. The theme is drawn by comprehending the story plot in the song shown by the song lyrics. Overall, the lyrics depict a situation of a boy and a girl who could be a couple but the girl rejected him because of his appearance.
Finally, the girl regrets because the boy becomes a successful musician, and she is now an unemployed single mother.
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This research aims to help other writers conduct a related study regarding song lyrics, semantics, metaphors, and theme. The theme of a song is often interpreted variously. Therefore, the writer tries to reveal the theme of a song from the metaphors used in the song. Further studies are encouraged in order to establish a broader and comprehensive analysis.
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REFERENCES
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Koskela, Merja. (1998). Verbs and Noun Phrases – Two Tendencies in Philosophical Essays. Washington: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED460628
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Sk8er Boi Lyrics
He was a boy, she was a girl Can I make it any more obvious? He was a punk, she did ballet What more can I say? He wanted her, she'd never tell But secretly she wanted him as well But all of her friends stuck up their nose They had a problem with his baggy clothes
He was a sk8er boi, she said "see you later, boy" He wasn't good enough for her She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space She needed to come back down to earth
Five years from now, she sits at home Feeding the baby, she's all alone She turns on TV, guess who she sees Sk8er boi rocking up MTV
She calls up her friends, they already know And they've all got tickets to see his show She tags along, stands in the crowd Looks up at the man that she turned down
He was a sk8er boi, she said "see you later, boy" He wasn't good enough for her Now he's a superstar, slamming on his guitar Does your pretty face see what he's worth?
Sorry, girl, but you missed out Well, tough luck, that boy's mine now We are more than just good friends This is how the story ends Too bad that you couldn't see See the man that boy could be There is more than meets the eye I see the soul that is inside
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He's just a boy and I'm just a girl Can I make it any more obvious? We are in love, haven't you heard How we rock each other's world? I'm with the sk8er boi, I said "see you later, boy" I'll be backstage after the show I'll be at a studio, singing the song we wrote About a girl you used to know I'm with the sk8er boi, I said "see you later, boy" I'll be backstage after the show I'll be at a studio, singing the song we wrote About a girl you used to know
Appendix 2: The classifications of the metaphoric expressions
No. Metaphorical Types Expressions Nominal Predicative Sentential 1. He was a punk, she did √ √ ballet 2. But all of her friends √ stuck up their nose 3. They had a problem √ √ with his baggy clothes 4. He was a sk8er boi √ 5. She said “see you later, √ boy” 6. She had a pretty face, √ √ but her head was up in space 7. She needed to come √ back down to earth 8. Five years from now, √ she sits at home 9. Feeding the baby, she's √ all alone 10. Sk8er boi rocking up √ MTV 11. And they’ve all got √ tickets to see his show 12. She tags along, stands √ in the crowd 13. Looks up at the man √ that she turned down
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14. Now he's a superstar, √ slamming on his guitar 15. There is more than √ meets the eye 16. Haven’t you heard, how √ we rock each other's world? Total 8 9 2
Appendix 3: The Meaning of the Metaphors in Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi”
No. Metaphorical Literal Metaphorical Type of Shared expressions meaning meaning Metaphor concept 1. He was a A person A rude Nominal [+harsh] punk, she did who likes character ballet punk music and dressed like a punk musician 2. He was a A style of A tender Nominal [+gentle] punk, she did dancing that character. ballet performs its soft and gentle moves. 3. But all of her They point They are Predicative [+above] friends stuck their nose arrogant. up their nose upwards. 4. They had a A thing that Something Nominal [+disagreement] problem with is difficult that is his baggy to deal with disliked. clothes or to understand 5. They had a Attire that is Rebellious Nominal [+freedom] problem with loose. characteristic. his baggy clothes 6. He was a A young A rebel Nominal [+rebel] sk8er boi male person person. who skates 7. She said “see Hope to Reject the boy Predicative [+separate] you later, meet again boy”
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with the boy another time 8. She had a The top part The person as Nominal [+human] pretty face, of the body a whole, but her head including was up in his/her mind space and personality 9. She had a The head is Someone has Sentential [+above] pretty face, in a high a personality but her head place of being was up in superior to space others 10. She needed to Towards the Behave Predicative [+below] come back lower place inferior down to earth 11. Five years A place to Do not have Nominal [-employed] from now, she rest any job sits at home 12. Feeding the Giving food Activity done Sentential [+motherhood] baby, she’s to baby by a mother all alone 13. Sk8er boi The skater His music Predicative [+rise] rocking up boy shaking career is MTV up a music extremely television increasing. channel 14. And they’ve An official A way to the Nominal [+door] all got tickets form for the success of the to see his entrance to boy’s music show a career performance 15. She tags Come with Betrayed by Predicative [-faithful] along somebody someone uninvitedly 16. Looks up at Stare up Show Predicative [+respect] the man that admiration she turned down 17. Now he’s a The boy is The boy is Predicative [+music] superstar, playing now a famous slamming on guitar musician his guitar
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18. There is more Seeing the Seeing the Predicative [+object] than meets eyes physical thing the eye 19. Haven’t you A type of Pleasant Predicative [+happiness] heard how we loud feeling rock each popular other’s music world?