THE MEANINGS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE [EDITED] · Peneliti juga menjabarkan tentang arti dengan menggunakan sifat-sifat semantik, ... Deignan, Littlemore, and Semino explain that “figurative

THE MEANINGS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN LED ZEPPELIN’S STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By ANASTASIA ROSELLA APRILIANINGRUM

Student Number: 154214077

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA 2019

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

THE MEANINGS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN LED ZEPPELIN’S STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By ANASTASIA ROSELLA APRILIANINGRUM

Student Number: 154214077

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA 2019




STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

T certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been

previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that,

to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis )c<;)I1tains no material

previously written by any other person excpet where due reference is made in the

text of the undergraduate thesis

June 16, 2019

Anastasia Rosella Aprilianingrum

v



vii

It always seems impossible

until it’s done -Nelson Mandela


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FOR PEOPLE WHO UNDERESTIMATE ME


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to God, because of His blessings, I can finish the process of

writing this undergraduate thesis. First of all, I would like to express my special

gratitude to my thesis advisor, Arina Isti’anah S.Pd., M.Hum. who supported me,

gave me unstoppable advices and accompanied me through my long journey in

Sanata Dharma. It is such an honor for me to have her as my thesis advisor. I will

never forget all her kindness, patience, and spirit to bring all her students to the

success.

Secondly, I would like to thank my co-advisor, Fransisca Kristanti, S.Pd.,

M.Hum. for giving me advices and guiding me in the writing process of this

undergraduate thesis. Without her help, I cannot finish doing my final thesis.

My other special thanks go to my mom, M. M. Mardianingsih, my dad, Tri

Arwan Samsuhadi, and my beloved sister, Yoana Priska Widyaningrum who

never forget to remind me of doing this undergraduate thesis every day. They are

one of my motivations to finish this thesis. I am also lucky that I have many

supportive friends that I could not mention one by one to help me finish my study.

They are great and amazing. The last thing, I would like to thank to special

supporter who always took a good care of me, while doing this study.

Anastasia Rosella Aprilianingrum


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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 ....................................................................... 3 C. Objectives of the Study .................................................................... 3 D. Definition of Terms .......................................................................... 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................... 5

A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................ 5 B. Review of Related Theories .............................................................. 8

1. Semantics ................................................................................... 8 2. Types of Meaning ...................................................................... 9

a. Conceptual Meaning ............................................................ 9 b. Connotative Meaning ......................................................... 10

3. Figurative Language ................................................................ 10 a. Metaphor ............................................................................ 11 b. Simile ................................................................................. 11 c. Personification .................................................................... 12 d. Metonymy .......................................................................... 12 e. Symbol ............................................................................... 12 f. Allegory .............................................................................. 12 g. Paradox ............................................................................... 13 h. Hyperbole ........................................................................... 13 i. Understatement .................................................................. 13 j. Irony ................................................................................... 14

C. Theoretical Framework ................................................................... 14 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ......................................................... 15

A. Object of the Study ......................................................................... 15 B. Approach of the Study .................................................................... 16 C. Method of the Study ........................................................................ 17


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1. Data Collection ........................................................................ 17 2. Data Anaysis ............................................................................ 17

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................ 20

A. Types of Figurative Language in Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepellin ........................................................................................... 19 1. Hyperbole .................................................................................... 21 2. Personification ............................................................................ 22 3. Symbol ........................................................................................ 24

B. The Meaning from The Figurative Language in Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepellin. ................................................................. 27 1. Meaning in Hyperbole ............................................................. 28 2. Meaning in Personification ...................................................... 29 3. Meaning in Symbol .................................................................. 32

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................. 38 REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 41 APPENDICES ............................................................................................ 42


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LIST OF TABLES

No. Table Page Table 1. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics 21 Table 2. Song Lyrics with Hyperbole 21 Table 3. Song Lyrics with Personification 22 Table 4. Song Lyrics with Symbol 24 Table 5. Semantic Feature in Hyperbole 28 Table 6. Semantic Feature in Hyperbole 29 Table 7. Semantic Feature in Personification 30 Table 8. Semantic Feature in Personification 30 Table 9. Semantic Feature in Personification 31 Table 10. Semantic Feature in Personification 31 Table 11. Semantic Feature in Symbol 32 Table 12. Semantic Feature in Symbol 33 Table 13. Semantic Feature in Symbol 33 Table 14. Semantic Feature in Symbol 34 Table 15. Semantic Feature in Symbol 34 Table 16. Semantic Feature in Symbol 35 Table 17. Semantic Feature in Symbol 35 Table 18. Semantic Feature in Symbol 35 Table 19. Song Lyrics with Hyperbole 44 Table 20. Song Lyrics with Personification 44 Table 21. Song Lyrics with Symbol 44 Table 22. Semantic Feature in Hyperbole 45 Table 23. Semantic Feature in Hyperbole 45 Table 24. Semantic Feature in Personification 45 Table 25. Semantic Feature in Personification 45 Table 26. Semantic Feature in Personification 46 Table 27. Semantic Feature in Personification 46 Table 28. Semantic Feature in Symbol 46 Table 29. Semantic Feature in Symbol 46 Table 30. Semantic Feature in Symbol 46 Table 31. Semantic Feature in Symbol 47 Table 32. Semantic Feature in Symbol 47 Table 33. Semantic Feature in Symbol 47 Table 34. Semantic Feature in Symbol 47 Table 35. Semantic Feature in Symbol 47


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ABSTRACT

APRILIANINGRUM, ANASTASIA ROSELLA. (2019). The Meanings of Figurative Language in Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. Yogyakarta, Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Language is one of the ways for human to communicate. Language is used to express someone’s feelings, emotions, and also ideas. Figurative language is one of the languages that is used in literary works, especially in song lyrics. The lyrics were written based on the songwriter’s experience. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin is one of The Best Slow Rock Song All of Time. The lyrics contain many meanings that make people have many perspectives on the lyrics. In broader outline, Stairway to Heaven tells about the human’s lives in the world until it continuous to tell about the end of life.

There are two objectives that have to be found in this research. The first one is to find out what types of figurative language used in Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. The second one is to solve the meanings of the song by using semantic feature. The researcher is focused on an object which is the song of Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven.

The object is got through the website. Then, the object is analyzed as the categorization of figurative language. After finding its figurative language, the researcher finds the literal and figurative meaning. Connotative meaning is applied to lead the researcher found out the intended meaning in the song. The researcher also explains the meaning by using the semantic features.

This research shows that the song contains of the three types of figurative languages; hyperbole, personification, and symbol. The researcher found two lyrics containing hyperbole, four lyrics containing personification, and nine lyrics containing symbol. Symbol is the most frequent type of figurative language which is used in the song.

Keyword: Figurative Language, Semantics, Led Zeppelin


xiv

ABSTRAK

APRILIANINGRUM, ANASTASIA ROSELLA. (2019). The Meaning of Figurative Language in Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Bahasa merupakan salah satu cara manusia untuk berkomunikasi. Bahasa dapat digunakan untuk mengekspresikan perasaan, emosi, ide seseorang. Bahasa kiasan merupakan salah satu bahasa yang digunakan pada karya sastra, khususnya pada lirik lagu. Lirik ditulis berdasarkan pengalaman sang pencipta lagu. Stairway to Heaven oleh led Zeppelin merupakan salah satu lagu slow rock terlaris sepanjang masa. Liriknya mengandung banyak arti yang membuat orang-orang memiliki banyak pandangan terhadap lirik tersebut. Secara garis besar, lagu Stairway to Heaven bercerita tentang kehidupan manusia di dunia yang sampai akhirnya berlanjut dengan menceritakan pandangan tentang akhirat.

Terdapat dua tujuan yang harus ditemui pada penelitian ini. Pertama, untuk mencari tahu apa saja jenis bahasa kiasan yang digunakan. Kedua, untuk mencari tahu makna lagu dengan menggunakan fungsi semantik. Penelitian ini hanya memfokuskan pada satu lagu Stairway to Heaven oleh Led Zeppelin.

Objek didapatkan melalui pencarian situs. Lalu, objek di analisis sesuai dengan kategori bahasa kiasannya. Setelah menemukan kategori bahasa kiasan, peneliti mencari makna dari lirik tersebut secara bahasa harafiah dan bahasa kiasan. Makna konotatif akan digunakan peniliti untuk mencari arti mendalam di lagu tersebut. Peneliti juga menjabarkan tentang arti dengan menggunakan sifat-sifat semantik,

Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa lagu tersebut mengandung tiga jenis bahasa kiasan; hiperbola, personifikasi, dan simbol. Peneliti menemukan dua lirik yang mengandung hiperbola, empat lirik mengandung personifikasi, dan sembilan lirik yang mengandung simbol. Simbol merupakan frekuensi tipe bahasa kiasan terbanyak yang digunakan dalam lagu.

Kata Kunci: Figurative Language, Semantics, Led Zeppelin.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Language is one of the important things exists on human’s life.

According to Everett, “language is the combination of the cognition, culture, and

communication” (2012, p. 35). This means that human being has an intellectual

belongs to a community with values and needs to communicate using languages.

Basically, a language is the foundation for humans to deliver their feelings,

emotions, and ideas. Language also has a function to connect one human with

another. It can be said that language is a very important thing in human’s life.

Without language, human beings will not be able to understand the process of

communication.

In this research, the researcher focuses of the Semantics which is about

the study of meaning. Saeed states that semantic study is learning more about

meaning in communication through language (2009, p. 3). It also has the

functions to develop and improve humans’ knowledge. Some particular theories

state similar thing about semantics which also relates with the meaning of words.

In Semantics, there are some types of meaning that mention about figurative

meaning.

Through Semantics, the researcher is brought to learn deeper about

meaning in language. In this research, connotative meaning leads the researcher to

analyze Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. Connotative meaning is more


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complex to discuss in figurative meaning than the other meaning theories.

According to Leech, “connotative meaning concerns with the real-world

experiences one associates with the linguistic expression one uses or hears”

(1981, p.13). It means that connotative meaning depends on the knowledge and

the beliefs of the speakers and may belong to the characteristics of the referent.

Deignan, Littlemore, and Semino explain that “figurative language is

used to describe the details of the context and also for evaluative and persuasive

purposes” (2013). Almost all literary works use figurative language as the

language to express the authors’ feeling. Song lyrics are one of the examples that

uses figurative language. Every singer, composer, or musician has his or her own

charateristic in music, such as; pop, jazz, rock, blues. People will find more than

one type of figurative languages in one song.

Thomas (1995, p. 14) explains that “music becomes the object for

linguistics and also differs so much in language”. Music is one of the most

beautiful ways for people to deliver their feeling because it contains melody and

harmony that people can enjoy and imagine. Music also has stronger feeling for

the audiences to come and enter into that kind of authors’ atmosphere. The

melody and the harmony could represent about the sad or happy song depending

on the composer’s feeling.

In this study, the researcher discusses and analyzes more about the

figurative language in “Stairway To Heaven” song by Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin

is one of the most popular slow rock bandS in 1968 from London, United

Kingdom. Based on the website www.songfacts.com. One of their best songs


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Stairway to Heaven has been sold more than 10,000 copies and the song contains

of 40 lines and it makes almost eight minutes long of audio. The assumption of

the lyrics tells about human that finds ways to go to heaven, its sometimes makes

the audiences confused about that content. In the lyrics, the composer also uses

the figurative language. It makes the song more aesthetic. To understand more

about the song, the researcher needs to use some theories of figurative language

and describes the meaning of the song clearly.

This research result will be used to start another analysis such as to find

the language style and the meaning in pragmatic approach. This research focuses

to inform about the meaning through the figurative language that is used in

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin in album Led Zeppelin IV in semantic

approach.

B. Problem Formulation

The researcher formulates out two problems in observing this research.

The two problems are:

1. What types of figurative language are found in Stairway to Heaven by Led

Zeppelin?

2. What meanings can be concluded from figurative languages in Stairway to

Heaven by Led Zeppelin?

C. Objectives the Study


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The objectives of the study are to answer the problems mentioned in the

previous part. The researcher analyzes types of figurative languages are by

reading, analyzing, and understanding the song lyrics of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway

To Heaven”. Then, the researcher finds out what lyrics that are using figurative

language and what meaning that the composer wants to deliver to the listeners.

D. Definition of Terms

The following explanations are the definition of some particular terms

that used by the researcher. According to Bernhart and Wolf, song is the united of

aesthetic things between textual and musical devices and resulted the modern

minds (1999). They add that song could be a fictional motivation, make the

feelings more dramatic, and also produce some assumptions.

Perrine describes that figurative language is language that brings us to

the imagination pleasure (1969, p. 71). Figurative language fiigures out something

to be more than its meaning.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

There are three parts of this section review related studies, related

theories, and theoretical framework. The researcher reviews four sources for the

related studies which consist of two theses and two journal or articles. In the

related theories, the researcher reviews some theories from the experts to lead the

analysis based on the research questions. Theoretical framework presents the role

of theories to solve the problems.

A. Review of Related Studies

The researcher reviews two previous theses and two articles that have

been published with similar main ideas, which are figurative language, as

references. All of the theses and journals were written by Indonesian researchers

and have the same objects of literary works to analyse and also have the same idea

about figurative language.

This first thesis was written by Saputro (2010) who did an undergraduate

thesis entitled The Message of The Betrayal in Figurative Language Of The Song

“Your Betrayal”. Saputro analyses the figurative language found in the lyrics

“Your Betrayal” by Matthew Tuck. In his study, Saputro mentions that the whole

28 lines in song lyric of “Your Betrayal” contain figurative language. The result

shows that there are four types of figurative language in the lyric that consist of

hyperbole, dead metaphor, metaphor, and irony. In analysing the data, Saputro


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reviews some theories from Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963) and Leech

(1981), Perrine (1969). He collected the data from the online resources and took

some songs as purposive sampling. In the end of the research, Saputro concludes

that the song lyrics of “Your Betrayal” contains figurative language that is created

by the writer to expect the audience to feel the same emotion about the anger, the

revenge, and the desperation.

The second thesis was written by Adimurti (2011) who did an

undergraduate thesis entitled Eroticism in Katy Perry’s Song Lyric Hummingbird

Heartbeat And Peacock Through Figurative language. Adimurti discusses two

songs of Katy Perry which are “Hummingbird Heartbeat” and “Peacock”. In

Adimurti’s research, he finds some figurative language such as simile, metonymy,

metaphor, and overstatement in “Hummingbird Heartbeat” lyric, while in the lyric

of “Peacock”, he finds metaphor, overstatement and simile. In analysing the data,

he reviews theory from Perrine and also mentions the theory of eroticism from

Mills. In the end of the research, Adimurti concludes that the two lyrics by Katy

Perry which are “Hummingbird Heartbeat” and “Peacock” represents the lust

feeling of both woman and man by examining the figurative languages that

contain eroticism.

The similarity among both theses from Saputro and Adimurti and the

researcher is to discuss the figurative language in song lyric. While the difference

are Saputro and the researcher focus on the whole meaning of the song lyric,

Adimurti focuses on the eroticism.


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The first article was written by Mahmood, Obaid, and Shakir (2014) with

the title A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Figurative Language in Pakistani

English Newspaper. Mahmood, Obaid, and Shakir (2014) mention four types of

figurative language that are used in Pakistani English Newspaper. In the data

analysis, they review theories from some authors such as Lakoff and Johnson and

Richardson. For the methodology, they apply qualitative and quantitative method

through the critical discourse approach to analyse the research about the figurative

language. The result that they find are four types of figurative language in

Pakistani English Newspaper; metonymy, hyperbole, simile, and metaphor. Each

of the type of figurative language has a portion in describing the ideas in order to

form the desired public opinion.

The other article was written by Defisyani, Hamzah, and Fitrawati (2018)

entitled The Use of Figurative Language Found in Products Advertisement for

Different Genders. They review some theories from Leech, Bloor, May, etc. For

the methodology, they use a descriptive method to analyse the figurative

language. The result shows that the writers find three types of figurative language

which are personification, simile, and hyperbole that use in their research in

product advertisement. They state that personification is about the relation of

human to human. Simile is about the connective words. Hyperbole is about

something without intending to deceive.


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B. Review of Related Theories

The researcher reviews some theories that concern semantics. The

theories help the researcher to add more knowledge about figurative language and

its four main types and also about the meaning and its types. The theories help the

researcher to answer the problems that mentioned in chapter II.

1. Semantics

Yule (2010) states that “semantics is the study of the meaning of words,

phrases and sentences” (p. 112). It means that the reader has to focus on the term

that is created rather than the creator’s meaning, Semantics suggests us to be

objective and sees more perspectives. Semantics is broad knowledge since it

improves people way of thinking.

According to Cann, “semantics is used to interpret the term more

narrowly” (1993, p. 1). If we learned semantics, it develops us to think more than

one interpretation. In a text, it may have more than one meaning or interpretation.

Therefore, we are asked to predict and guess some possibilities or ambiguities in

the figure expressions.

Kempson (1989) states that semantic theory must have three condition,

which are must figures out the language of word meaning and sentence meaning,

must to predict the ambiguities, and must to explain the rellation between word

and sentence in language (p. 4). Therefore, that three conditions, are needed in

learn semantic study and can be the foundation to analyze study in semantics.

Other theory adds that “semantics is the study of linguistic meaning

particular” (Frawley, 1992, p. 1). Semantics teaches us to have broader thought


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than usual. Semantics also discusses literal and non-literal meaning (Saeed, 2009,

p. 15). Literal meaning is when the meaning has similar definition in the

dictionary or library book or general meaning. Non-literal meaning or figurative

meaning is when the meaning is further than in its dictionary. Figurative meaning

is deeper than the literal meaning. In figurative meaning, people may have

difficulties since it has many perspectives and interpretations. Some of

categorizations in figurative meaning are metaphor, irony, metonymy,

synecdoche, hyperbole, and litotes (Saeed, 2009, p. 15).

After the preceding explanation, the researcher saw that semantics helps

the researcher to find what is the intended meaning by knowing the figurative or

literal meaning and what actually the songwriter wants to deliver to the listeners

in Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

2. Types of Meaning

According to Leech, “Semantics pursues the study of meaning in a wide

sense of all that is communicated by language” (1981, p. 9). To study meanings,

people must have more knowledge because meanings have more than one

perspective, then people can discuss and share what they think about. Leech’s

theory (1981) notices seven types of meaning, they are conceptual meaning,

connotative meaning, social meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, and

collocative meaning. In this research the researcher just explains the conceptual

meaning and connotative meaning since they are the closest types meaning that

relates with the discussion.


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a. Conceptual Meaning

Conceptual or denotative or cognitive meaning supposes to be the main

factor in linguistic (Leech, 1981, p. 9). Conceptual meaning helps to provide the

literal meaning element of a word. People can find the meaning similarly with

dictionaries or any general books when understood the conceptual meaning. To

understand more, take a look at the example below:

Girl : [+Human], [+Female], [-Adult]

That example shows the word girl is [+Human], [+Female], and [-Adult].

The word girl represents a kid female human being. The features discuss things

that are related with the word girl. [+Human] shows that girl is one of human

being, [+Female] points the sex of the girl, and [-Adult] usually relates how the

way he behaves and thinks.

b. Connotative Meaning

Connotative meaning is the communicative value of what it refers to

(Leech, 1981, p. 12). Connotative meaning relates with the figurative meaning.

Therefore, it is broader than the conceptual meaning that just discusses the literal

meaning. In connotative meaning, people can improve the referent of a word. It

can be the characteristics, psychological, and social properties.

If in conceptual meaning girl has [+Human], [+Female], and [-Adult], in

connotative meaning we can adds any other referents that relates with the word

girl. For example, girl can be explained as [+Young], [+Active], and [+Pretty].

Connotative meaning brings feature that related with. [+Young] is possible that


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boy is a kid, not adult that refers to old. [+Active] is acceptable since girl has

more energy. [+Pretty] can be used because it refers to female.

3. Figurative Language

According to Perrine, figurative language is language which uses a non-

literal meaning (p. 65). Figurative language is usually applied to express what

people want to deliver in different way. Figurative meaning invites people to think

broader from what it is written. Figurative language is usually used by the author

of literary work to deliver what he or she thought.

Figurative language sometimes tells about something that do not make

sense. Figurative can give many interpretations for people who read the texts.

Perrine adds that “figurative language affords us imaginative pleasure” (1969, p.

71). It means that in figurative language invites people to think beyond the

surface. It makes people have critical mind since each person has different way of

interpreting.

Figurative language is divided into some types. Although there are so

many variation in figurative language, the researcher decides to use Perrine’s

types of figurative language. According to Perrine (1969), there are ten types of

figurative language, namely metaphor, personification, metonymy, symbol,

allegory, paradox, hyperbole, and irony. The researcher uses Perrine’s theory

since it has more variation which can help the researcher to answer the problems.

In this part, the researcher describes of each type of figurative language.


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a. Metaphor

Metaphor is used to compare between things that are different (Perrine,

1969, p. 65). In metaphor, one thins represents other things which is inanimate.

Example of metaphor is She is the star in her class. This sentence does not mean

that she is the object from the space. In metaphor she associates with star and has

b. Simile

Simile is a figure of speech that compares one thing to others (Perrine,

1969, p. 65). Simile is likely similar with metaphor. The different things from

metaphor, simile uses the word like or as. The use of those words makes metaphor

compares things directly. Example of simile is she is as beautiful as the moon.

c. Personification

Personification is inanimate thing are given the attributes of human being

(Perrine, 1969, p. 67). In personification, people can see that non-human things

seems like do the human’s activity. Some examples of personification are the

wind swept the dust, the mirror talked to myself, the radio accompanies me every

night.

d. Metonymy

“Metonymy is figure of speech that substitute the detail of an experience

for the experience itself” (Perrine, 1969, p. 69). Shortly, metonymy is the use of

word that is used to represent another word. Metonymy replaces another name of

thing that is closely related with it. Example of metonymy is he bought a Ferrari.

The word Ferrari represents a car. It means that he bought a car.


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e. Symbol

Symbol is defined as something that have more meaning when what it is

(Perrine, 1969, p. 83). Symbol can invite people to think deeper since it has more

than its meaning. Example of symbol is flag, it represents a nation.

f. Allegory

Allegory is defined as the narrative or description that has more than

meaning (Perrine, 1969, p. 91). Allegory makes the term has deeper meaning.

Therefore, in Allegory, people can find the moral point inside the text. Example of

allegory is The Tortoise and The Hare. The Tortoise here means an animal that

walk very slow and The Hare means an animal that walk fast.

g. Paradox

Paradox is the apparent contradiction in a statement (Perrine, 1969, p.

109). In paradox people can see that in a statement has contradiction possibility.

Example of paradox is war is peace. In the dictionary war defines as “a situation

in which two or more countries or groups of people fight against each other over a

period of time” (Hornby, 2010, p. 1672). Then, peace means “there is no war or

violence in a country or an area” (Hornby, 2010, p. 1080). These two words

consists of contradiction, the first statement said about fighting then another

talked about no violence.

h. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is figure of speech that consists the exaggeration (Perrine,

1969, p. 110). Hyperbole usually exists because the author wants to tell something

that non-make sense. The author uses hyperbole to make the reader thinks more


14

that the way of human think. Example of hyperboles are this bag weighs a ton,

your skin softer than silk, and I want to eat a ton of rice.

i. Understatement

Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole. Understatement is used to

give less that the means (Perrine, 1969, p. 111). Understatement reduces the

expectation from what readers think in a term. Example of understatement is

when someone had accident, fell from the motorcycle and she or he said It a little

bit hurt. As we can see, everybody who fell down absolutely feel hurt so much,

but she or he just mentioned a little bit hurt, people will realize that she or he is

hurt but it still fine.

j. Irony

Irony is a figure of speech that is used to tell meaning that beyond extend

(Perrine, 1969, p. 112). Irony is usually used to imply the statement in the term

but it is wrapped in valuable sentence. Irony is figure of speech that can be used to

develop our critical thinking and it can be sentimental when it is delivered as a

statement.

C. Theoretical Framework

Some theories reviewed in this research are explained in term of their

importance and how they contribute in analysing the two problems that the

researcher mentioned before. This research depends on semantic theory, theory of

figurative language, and theory the meaning of word to answer the problems of


15

the study. The data discusses and also focuses on the figurative meaning that

contains in the song lyrics.

The first question concerns to the types of figurative language found in the

lyrics. The semantic approach is applied in finding the types of figurative

language. The theory from Cuddon helps the researcher to classify what types of

figurative language found in Stairway to Heaven’s songs.

The second question, the researcher answers about the meaning of the

Stairway to Heaven’s selected song lyrics. The researcher applies the theory of

connotative meaning to find the intended meaning of the song lyric.


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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of three parts. Firstly, the researcher discusses the

object of the study as the idea of the analysis. Next, the researcher discusses what

approach that is used to analyze the research. Last, the researcher discusses some

methods that help to answer the problems.

A. Object of the Study

This research analyzed the types of the figurative language that appear in

song entitled “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, and the intended meaning

inside the song. The song was taken from the music website called Azlyric.

Azlyrics is one of the most used and popular legal website for people to search the

song lyrics. The website provides almost complete songs from all singers around

the world.

The song has more varied lyrics with no repetition except the lyrics

“makes me wonder” and “stairway to heaven” than other songs of Led Zeppelin.

This song was unpredictable by Led Zeppelin to be an insanely famous song

because it is delivered in a slower way than other rock songs. The song is

delivered without screaming or using the hardcore way, but just touch of the

guitar and little bit the drum. The lyrics have some ambiguous meaning and make

many interpretations about the song. Moreover, in the beginning, the song talked


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about a woman that believes that there is a way to go to heaven. It also told that

in heaven there is a similar life like in the world where the humans are living.

To make the analysis easier, the researcher took the main idea of the song

which is about a human’s living value that the composer packed in rock way. It

can be seen on the lyrics that the songwriters mention about the way of human

live, what did human do in this world, what happened with human, and so on. The

lyrics indirectly tell the story about the human’s journey to reach the purpose of

life. This song has deep meaning to those who always find happiness without

doing the good things.

B. Approach of the Study

In general, there are many kinds of approach that can be used to analyze

a work of literature in linguistic way. To understand more about the literary work,

every researcher can use one or more of the approaches. In this discussion, the

researcher decided to choose the semantic approach to find the types of figurative

language in the Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

Leech (2010, p. 4) states that “semantics is to provide a definition of

meaning”. Semantics discusses deepeer than its meaning in the surface. Semantics

improves people knowledge to think critically and sees meaning in some different

perspectives. In semantics, people have to develop the way of thinking, therefore,

people do not see just the top of the problem but also the bottom.

The purpose of this research is to find the intended message of the

religious theme seen through the figurative language and the semantics approach


18

helps the researcher to provide some methods. This semantic approach also

applied to reveal the intended message in the figurative language Stairway to

Heaven.

C. Method of the Study

Some books were taken to reveal the problem formulation. The lyric of

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin was used as the main object in order to do

the research. The song was chosen based on one of the lists of Best of The Best

Rock Song of All Time. The theories applied were taken from linguistic books.

1. Data Collection

First, the object was submitted from the music website

www.azlyrics.com, which is the most used and legal website internationally. The

data were taken based on the theories that are provided and used. The researcher

used ten types of figurative language namely metaphor, simile, personification,

metonymy, symbol, allegory, paradox, hyperbol, understatement, and irony.

Second, the object was divided into two parts of the lyrics that has literal

meaning and non-literal meaning. The researcher focused on non-literal meaning

and has further explanation on the figurative language that is used in non-literal

meaning.

2. Data Analysis

In analyzing the data, there were some processes after the researcher

found out two problems in this study. The first step was deciding the types of

figurative language that used in the song lyrics Stairway to Heaven. The use of


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theory of figurative language helped the researcher to analyze the song. Theory

from Perrine (1969) were taken in this discussion. As it is mentioned that

figurative languages are divided into ten types which are metaphor, simile,

personification, metonymy, symbol, allegory, paradox, hyperbole,

understatement, and irony.

The second problem was about the intended message about life through

the meaning of figurative language in the song lyric of Stairway to Heaven.

The second step, the researcher observed the meaning by using the literal

meaning found in the song lyrics. Then, the researcher interpreted the figurative

meaning. After that, the researcher compared meaning between literal and

figurative. The last step, the researcher applied the semantic feature from each

lyric that has been discussed one by one by knowing the figurative and literal

meaning.


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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter contains the analyses that the researcher mentioned in two

previous chapters which is chapter I and chapter II. The first part is to identify the

figurative meaning or literal meaning in Stairway to Heaven lyrics. Then, the

researcher discusses more about the figurative meaning and categorizes into ten

types of figurative language that guides to identify the lyrics, based on the

Perrine’s theory of figurative language. The lyrics that have one of the types of

figurative language will be given bold by the researcher.

The second part is to answer the second problem. It will be about the

intended meaning in the lyrics of “Stairway to Heaven”. The theory of

connotative meaning which tells about semantic features will help the researcher

to answer the second problem. Semantic features will use based on the category of

word it is meantioned. If in lteral meaning and figurative meaning the researcher

used noun, the semantic features will be used noun as similar as the meaning that

is stated. It would be the same if the reseacrher uses an adjective or a verb after

figuring out the literal and figurative meaning. It makes the researcher and the

reader easier to find and understand what is the intended meaning in the lyrics.


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A. Types of Figurative Language in Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepellin

The previous chapter mentioned that the researcher would firstly divide

the lyrics into two categorization which consist of figurative meaning or literal

meaning. In part A, the researcher discusses the figurative language containing in

the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven. The analysis is led by the theory of Perrine,

therefore the researcher analyzed by looking ten types of figurative language. This

following table shows the summary of figurative language in Stairway to Heaven.

Table 1. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics

Number Type of Figurative

Language

Amount 1 Hyperbole 2 2 Personification 4 3 Symbol 9

1. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is the first type of figurative language that is analyzed.

Hyperbole is used to express an exaggeration. This type of figurative language

that found in some lines, is created by the author to make strong feeling of the

song. Hyperbole makes something to exaggerate. It can be beyond human’s

imagination. From the analysis, the researcher found two lines that used the

hyperbolic expression and will be shown in the following explanation.

Table 2. Song Lyrics with Hyperbole

No. Lyrics

1 And she’s buying a stairway to heaven

2 With A word she can get what she came for


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a. And she’s buying a stairway to heaven

The first hyperbole goes to the line 2,5, and 40 of the song. It contains

hyperbole because it is extravagant that someone can buy the stairway to heaven

with money or any priceless things. The term buy here, is not about to purchase

something, but to do something. If buy in literal meaning means to get thing with

money, but in figurative meaning in the song means to do something good to get

heaven. Moreover, there is no store that sells a stairway to heaven.

b. With a word she can get what she came for

The second hyperbole comes from the fourth line of the song. It is

excessive that somebody can get anything they want just with a word, even if it is

the impossible thing. To get something, people need more effort and struggle. It is

not easy as what people think to reach the goals. The thing that people want will

not come instantly. The effort determines what result that will people get. It could

be good and it could be bad depending on what they did.

2. Personification

Personification is the second type of figurative language that is analyzed.

Personification is figurative language that inanimate do human’s activity. In

personification, people can see the visualization of non-human do something that

is usually done by human being. The researcher found there were four lines used

personification.


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Table 3. Song Lyrics with Personification

No. Lyrics

1 And my spirit is crying for leaving

2 And the forests will echo with laughter

3 Your head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know

4 The tune will come to you at last

a. And my spirit is crying for leaving

The lyric is found in the line 13 of the song. The term crying is a verb that

shows the human’s sadness about something. While the term spirit is something

invisible that lives inside human’s feeling and emotion. Meanwhile, by saying my

spirit is crying means people are not ready to leave the worldly life, they have

been living into the comfort zone. On the other hands, the songwriters indicate

that will be a time to people to leave this world. The line suggests the audiences to

be prepared on what will happen later. People have to go be a good starting right

now. They also convince the audiences to change their mind and ready to leave

the bad.

b. And the forests will echo with laughter

The second personification comes to preceding lyric. It is classified as the

personification because the word echo means the action of human to repeat the

original sound and stands for the forests as the part of the nature. That point

shows that there will be someone that tries to copy our life in some ways to be

looked like ourself since we a re better than him/herself. It can also be


24

summarized that there will be someone who does not like what we did or haters,

but they try to copy our style in life.

c. Your head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know

The third personification leads into the lyric above. The term head comes

as the location of ideas, minds, and also imagination, while the term humming is

the action of human being hesitate. Head and humming can be related, it is seen

that humming shows the way humans think about ideas, mind, or imagination. By

the guidance meaning, it can be elaborated that people is overthinking but they

have more doubt rather than confident about it, whereas they have never tried it. It

shows that is less action, but thinks more.

d. The tune will come to you at last

The last personification is the tune will come. The term tune represents

melody which is something beautiful, nice, and great. The term come means to

what will happen after people did something. It can be said that people will get

something good, or kindness if people also did something positive. Everything

will be beautiful in its time.

3. Symbol

According to Perrine, symbol is describing something more than its

meaning. Symbol figures out the figurative meaning or intended meaning of a

thing. Here are, the researcher mentions some symbols in the song.


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Table 4. Song Lyrics with Symbol

No. Lyrics

1 In the tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings

2 There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west

3 In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees.

4 Yes, there are two paths you can go buy, but in the long run

5 There’s still time to change the road you’re on

6 Our shadows taller than our soul

7 Who shines white light and wants to show

8 How everything still turns to gold

9 To be rock not to roll

a. In the tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings

In first symbol, the researcher found two symbols in eighth line. In literal

meaning, the word tree means a plant, then songbird means a bird that has a

musical call which means beautiful, nice, and calm. Therefore, in figurative

meaning, the term tree refers to a life, then songbird refers to something good. We

can conclude that the lyric is about in life there will be a good time for people.

There will be a great time in life and you have to enjoy it.

b. There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west

The symbol comes from the word west. In literal meaning, the word west

means direction. If, we take a look more, west is the direction where sun sets,

when the time becomes dark. Therefore, in figurative meaning, the west represents

the dark and desperate. The lyric wants to show that in life people absolutely will

feel down or have any bad experiences in life.


26

c. In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees.

In the lyric above, the symbol has in the word smoke and trees. In literal

meaning, smoke means something that disturb people’s vison, then trees mean

plant. The different opinion is in figurative meaning. The word smoke represents

obstacle and trees represents life. Therefore, in the lyric wants to say that in life,

people wil always get many obstacles in life and it cannot be avoided but have to

face it and solve it out.

d. Yes, there are two paths you can go buy, but in the long run

The next symbol come from the word paths. The literal meaning of paths

is a way. Paths in the lyrics symbolizes the choices or options in life. When

human live, they absolutely find a time when they have to choose of choices. The

decision itself will influence what happen to you later.

e. There’s still time to change the road you’re on

Actually, this lyric relates with the previous lyric above. Here, the

researcher found the word road. Road also has the same literal and figurative

meaning with the path. But, in this lyric has different context that the songwriters

want to deliver is there is still time to change your choices that you took, if it does

not have benefit for you.

f. Our shadows taller than our soul

The next symbol goes to the preceding lyric which has the word shadows

and soul. It is categorized as symbol because, the term soul has more than its

meaning. Shadow is something that is visible, while soul is invisible. Therefore,

the researcher cannot compare thing and say that shadows taller than our soul.


27

The reseacrher does not know how height the soul is. Bacause of its reason, the

researcher has to find the intendend meaning of soul and take a look of the term

shadows. Shadows is associated with darkness or negative sides and soul is

associated with strength and energy or positive side. Therefore, the lyric shows

that sometimes someone’s positive side is lost with negative one.

g. Who shines white light and wants to show.

Here the lyric has the symbol white light. White light here represents a

kindness and high power of individual. The lyric tells us there will be someone

who is kind and invites others to do good.

h. How everything still turns to gold

The lyric above has the symbol of gold. Gold here is associated as a

precious thing. Therefore, the term gold to a lyric that is everybody is precious,

everybody has meaning even they have negative side but they are priceless.

i. To be rock not to roll

This lyric has two symbols of rock and roll. In literal meaning, the

term rock means hard and solid material, the roll means flexible material. Then, as

the symbol rock is associated with strength, then roll is being unsteady and doubt.

Therefore, the lyric tells that in life, people must be strong and confident with

anything that we do. Believe that you can do this and everything is going to be

fine.


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B. The Meaning from the Figurative Language in Stairway To Heaven by Led

Zeppelin

Semantic approach has led the researcher to analyse this session. This

study helps to find the figurative meaning or non-literal meaning in the song

Stairway To heaven by Led Zeppelin. The meanings that are found will be

analysed by the semantic features. As mentioned in Yule (2010), semantic

features starts on analysing the conceptual components of word meaning (p. 115).

Yule also adds that the idea of describing part of meaning as either having (+) or

not having (-). Semantic feature helps the researcher to reveal the word meaning

or sentence meaning. In this part, the researcher shows the comparison between

literal and figurative meaning of the song. The researcher figures out the shared

semantic features through the result of comparing between literal and figurative

meaning. In this section, the researcher focuses on phrases or sentences in

figurative language.

1. Hyperbole

In the previous explanation, the researcher discussed about what types of

figurative languages that are used in the song. The following tables, shows that

the researcher found out 5 lines of the song Stairway to Heaven that consist in

hyperbole attached with the literal meaning and the figurative meaning.


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Table 5. Semantic Feature in Hyperbole

Figurative expression

Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning Semantic Feature

“buying a stairway to heaven”

Someone is buying ticket to go to heaven

Someone is doing good things to go to heaven

[+rich]

In first number, the researcher concludes the semantic feature by looking

the literal and figurative meaning based on the lyrics. In literal meaning, it shows

that someone is buying a stairway to heaven has wealthy finance. However, the

actual meaning of this expression can be analyzed by looking the figurative

meaning. In figurative meaning, the sentence refers to the wealthy heart. If we see

the entire lyrics, the songwriter wanted to say that if you want to go to heaven to

have to “enrich” your heart. Therefore, the semantic feature of the first number

of hyperboles [+rich].


Figurative Expression Literal Meaning Figurative

Meaning Semantic Feature

“a word she can get what she came

for”

She gets whatever she want just with

a word

She gets whatever she wants with

effor and struggle [+power]

The second number of hyperboles, the researcher concludes the semantic

feature also by looking the literal and figurative meaning based on the lyrics. In

literal meaning, it shows that with a word someone can get whatever he/she wants

or someone who has power. If we take a look to figurative meaning, the sentence

refers to the effort and struggle which needs “power” to do that. Therefore,

semantic features that mentioned is [+power].


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Next, the researcher wants to show what is the main point in a sentence

that the songwriters want deliver based on the semantic feature and the figurative

meaning.

a. And she's buying a stairway to heaven

Hardwork brings you to the the purpose you want to reach.

b. With A word she can get what she came for

Everything needs struggle, they do not come instantly.

2. Personification

The second type of figurative language is personification that refers to

the lyrics that has definition of personification. The researcher found four lines

that contain personification. The table below considers about the literal meaning

and also figurative meaning, and its semantic feature in the lines of

personification.

Table 7. Semantic Feature in Personification

Figurative Expression Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning

Semantic Feature

“my spirit is crying for leaving”

The spirit is sad and gone

The happiness is gone

[-please]

The first number of personification is in the lyric my spirit is crying for

leaving. In literal meaning it refers that the spirits is feeling the sadness. Then, the

actual meaning can be observed by looking the figurative meaning. In its

figurative meaning, it says that someone’s happines is already gone. As the

researcher analysed before, the literal and figurative meaning contains the


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negative statement someone is feeling sad because she/he is not ready for leaving.

Therefore, the semantic feature that fits with the meanings is [-please].




“the forest will echo”

The forest repeated original

sound

Someone tries to copy other

[+duplicate]

The second number of personification is in the lyric the forest will echo.

In literal meaning the lyric refers to the forest repeated the orignal sound. Then, in

figurative meaning it means, in life, someone get jealous and have willing to

follow or copy him/her. The researcher points out the literal and figurative

menaing by the word repeated and copy. Therefore, the researcher give

[+duplicate] in semantic feature.




“your head is humming”

The head produces continuous sounds

Someone is cannot stop thinking, overthinking

[+hesitate]

The third number of personification comes in the lyric your head is

humming. In literal meaning, the sentence means that head produces continuous

sound. Then, in figurative meaning, the researcher figures out to someone who

cannot stop think and feel doubt on something. Therefore, the researcher


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concludes that it the relation continuous and cannot stop. Since that explanation,

the researcher chose semantic feature [+hesitate] for the lyric.




“the tune will come”

Melody comes to someone

Something good will come

[+optimistic]

The last number of personification goes to the tune will come lyric. In

literal meaning it shows that melody comes to someon. In figurative or actual

meaning, the word tune refers to something good. Therefore, the lyric wants to

deliver that something good will come later. After describing the explanation, the

researcher decided to give semantic feature [+optimistic] for the lyric. It invites us

to do believe there will be good things come.

The things, the researcher wants to share is about the meaning that

researcher gets in personification, maintained to the preceding explanation.

a. And my spirit is crying for leaving

People have to be prepared for what will happen in the end of life.

b. And the forests will echo with laughter

There always be haters that are jealous with what we have done.

c. Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know

Just believe in yourself and be confident with what you have.

d. The tune will come to you at last

Everything will be beautiful in its time.


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3. Symbol

The last type of figurative language is symbol. The researcher found nine

lines that used symbol. The table below considers about the literal meaning and

also figurative meaning, and its semantic feature in the lines of symbol.

Table 11. Semantic Feature in Symbol

Symbol Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning Semantic Feature

Tree Plant Life [+exist]

songbird Bird that has musical call Something beautiful [+attractive]

The first symbol comes from the word tree and songbird. In literal

meaning, the tree refers to plant, while songbird refers to bird that has musical

call. In figurative meaning, the symbol of tree is associated with life and songbird

is associated with something beautiful. Therefore, because tree is something that

is alive, it has semantic feature [+exist], then songbird is bird’s musical call which

something beautiful, the semantic feature is [+attractive].




west direction Dark [-optimistic]

The second symbol is west. In literal meaning, west refers to direction,

furthermore, it can be said as the direction of where the sun sets. Because of that

reason, the researcher concludes that the figurative meaning of west is dark since

at that time the sun is going down and the day change to be night. Therefore, the


34

researcher gives the semantic feature [-optimistic] because there is no

enlightenment.




smoke disturbance obstacle [+distraction]

The second symbol comes from the words smoke. In literal meaning it

shows that smokes is something that disturbs people’s vision. It is such a visible

suspension. If we take a look to know more about the meaning, we have to see the

figurative meaning. In figurative meaning it refers to a disturbance. Therefore, the

researcher gives it semantic feature [+distraction].




Path Way Choice [+selection] Road Way Choice [+selection]

The fourth and fifth symbols are shown in the term path and road. These

two different words are actually having the same literal meaning which is a way.

However, in figurative meaning, they also have same figurative meaning which is

a choice. The researcher found that the message of the word path and road

represents way. Therefore the researcher decide that their semantic features

[+selection]. It means that in life, people will fid so may options or any selection.


35




Shadows Dark area Negative side [-virtue]

Soul energy Positive side [+virtue]

The sixth symbol is shadows and soul. In literal meaning, the shadows

means the dark area and soul relates with human’s spirituality. If we take a look to

figurative meaning, the term shadows and soul are something that have to walk

side by side. In figurative meaning, shadows represent the negative side, while

spirituality refers to positive that comes from the literal meaning, which is an

energy. Therefore, for the semantic feature, the researcher give shadows [+virtue]

and soul [-virtue].




White light Bright color Kindness [+good]

The seventh symbol is white light. In literal meaning white light has a

meaning, the light which has bright colour. Or if we separate the word white

refers to a holy colour and purity and the word light refers to bright. If we

combine it, the literal meaning will be about the purity and bright. The result is as

similar as with the noun phrase white light. It is different than in figurative

meaning, the term white light is associated with kindness. Therefore, in the

semantic feature, the researcher gives [+good].


36




Gold Chemical element that is expensive

precious [+valuable]

The eighth symbol goes to the word gold. In literal meaning gold refers

to expensive chemical element that is expensive, that it is not cheap. It is differen

thing if talk to the deeper meaning of gold. In figurative meaning by looking the

literal meaning, it refers to something precious or priceless because its value.

Therefore, the researcher mentions [+valuable] in semantic feature.




Rock Solid material Strong [+bold]

Roll Flexible material Weak [-bold]

The last symbol comes to the word rock and roll. In literal meaning, the

word rock is solid material which is hard to be broken, while the roll is flexible

material which is easy to be shaped. The term rock and roll contain the antonym.

In figurative meaning, rock and roll are associated to strength and weakness.

Therefore, in semantic feature, the researcher mentions [+bold] and [-bold].

After describing and explaining the semantic feature that is used in the

figurative language of the symbol. The researcher tries to find the more meaning

in sentence that contains the figurative language of symbol. Below, the researcher,

adds some more meaning after discussing the semantic features.


37

a. In the tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings

People will get a beautiful and good time to enjoy for.

b. There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west

Someone will get into the lowest situation in life

c. In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees

People ever feel jealous of someone’s accomplishment.

d. Yes, there are two paths you can go buy, but in the long run

There must be choices in life

e. There’s still time to change the road you’re on

If you have taken the first choice and it did not work, you still have time

to fix it.

f. Our shadows taller than our soul

Sometimes, someone’s positive side is lost to the negative one

g. Who shines white light and wants to show

There will be someone who spread the kindness

h. How everything still turns to gold

Even human has mistakes in life, he/she still precious

i. To be rock not to roll

Someone have to be strong not be weak.


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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This chapter tells the conclusion according to the analysis which has

been discussed in the previous chapter. The object is taken from the famous slow

rock song Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. The song was chosen because it

is one of the legend rock songs by the most famous band, Led Zeppelin. The song

has hidden meaning that interested to analyse.

At that time, the song surprised the audiences about the context of the

lyrics. It is such unusual thing that a rock band brought up something that is

slower music than before and it is something rare. According to this song, there

are still many people that do not understand what the actual meaning of the song

because the songwriter sometimes used complex word.

In this this research, the researcher finds that the songwriter use three

types of figurative language. The song consists of almost 40 lines and around 8

minutes long as the audio. In the song, the researcher obtains three types of

figurative language which are hyperbole, personification, and symbol.

In the discussion the researcher found several lines that included to the

type of figurative language. The hyperbole has two lines, personification has four

lines, and symbol has nine lines. As can be seen, the most used type of figurative

language is symbol. The second is personification and the last is hyperbole.


39

The use of hyperbole produces different meanings. The researcher only

found two lines of the lyrics that is categorized as hyperbole. The meanings of the

figurative expressions are obtained by using semantic features. Semantic features

in hyperbole are [+enrich] and [+power]. The meaning resulted of hyperbole

contains exaggeration, as show in the semantic feature [+enrich] and [+power].

The other use of figurative language is personification also produces

different meanings. The researcher four lyrics that is categorized personification.

The meanings are revealed by using semantic feature. Semantic features in

personification are [-please], [+duplicate], [+hesitate], and [+optimist].

The last use of figurative language is symbol. The researcher found ten

symbol in the nine lyrics of the song. The meanings are solved also by using

semantic feature. The semantic helps the researcher to find the intended meaning

in the symbols. Semantic features in symbol are [+exist], [+attractive], [-optimist],

[+selection], [-virtue], [+virtue], [+decency], [+valuable], [+bold], and [-bold].

There are two symbols that have the same semantic feature, which are paths and

road and the semantic feature is [+selection].

Therefore, after deciding the types of figurative language and finding out

the literal and figurative meaning, the researcher concludes that the song contains

about life value and concerns with human’s lives. It delivers to audience that we

are human, we are not living alone, we need others to live. Our purpose in life is

heaven. The songs indirectly gives us statement of life and some tips how can we

go to heaven .


40

The statement comes in several lines such as, no one can buy heaven,

everything does not come instantly, there will be haters that want to drop us, we

have to be ready to leave this world anytime, and so on. The tips to get heaven;

just doing the good things, helps other without asking for payment, if you did the

mistake, fix it, etc. In the end of the conclusion, the researcher hope that the

readers understand the meaning of the song based the figurative language that is

used.


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Perrine, Laurence. (1969). Sound and Sense. New York: Harcourt, Brace &World, Inc.

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Saputro, Yohanes Martin Nugroho. (2010). The Message of the Betrayal In Figurative Language of the song “Your Betrayal”. Universitas Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta.

Song Fact Retrieved from www.songfact.cm/April 2019

Yule, George (2010). The Study of Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.


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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: Lyrics of “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold And she's buying a stairway to heaven. When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed With a word she can get what she came for. Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven. There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure 'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings. In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings, Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven. Ooh, it makes me wonder, Ooh, it makes me wonder. There's a feeling I get when I look to the west, And my spirit is crying for leaving. In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees, And the voices of those who stand looking. Ooh, it makes me wonder, Ooh, it really makes me wonder. And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, Then the piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, And the forests will echo with laughter. If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, It's just a spring clean for the May queen. Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run There's still time to change the road you're on. And it makes me wonder. Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know, The piper's calling you to join him, Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know Your stairway lies on the whispering wind? And as we wind on down the road


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Our shadows taller than our soul. There walks a lady we all know Who shines white light and wants to show How everything still turns to gold. And if you listen very hard The tune will come to you at last. When all are one and one is all To be a rock and not to roll. And she's buying a stairway to heaven.


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Table 19. Song Lyrics with Hyperbole

No. Lyrics

1 And she’s buying a stairway to heaven

2 A word she can get what she came for

Table 20. Song Lyrics with Personification

No. Lyrics

1 And my spirit is crying for leaving

2 And the forests will echo with laughter

3 Your head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know

4 The tune will come to you at last

Table 21. Song Lyrics with Symbol

No. Lyrics

1 In the tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings

2 There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west

3 In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees.

4 Yes, there are two paths you can go buy, but in the long run

5 There’s still time to change the road you’re on

6 Our shadows taller than our soul

7 Who shines white light and wants to show

8 How everything still turns to gold

9 To be rock not to roll


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Figurative expression

Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning Semantic Feature

“buying a stairway to heaven”

Someone is buying ticket to go to heaven

Doing good things to get to heaven

[+enrich]




“a word she can get what she

came for”

With a word, someone can get whatever she/he

want

Everything needs effort and struggle

[+power]


Figurative Expression Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning

Semantic Feature

“my spirit is crying for leaving”

The spirit is sad and gone

The happiness is gone

[-please]




“the forest will echo”

The forest repeated original

sound

Someone tries to copy other

[+duplicate]


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“your head is humming”

The head produces

continuous sounds

Someone is cannot stop thinking,

overthinking

[+hesitate]




“the tune will come”

Melody comes to someone

Something good will come

[+optimist]


Symbol Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning Semantic Feature

Tree Plant Life [+exist]

Songbird Bird that has musical call Something beautiful [+attractive]




west direction Dark [-optimist]




smoke disturbance Obstacle [+distraction]


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Path way Choice [+selection]

Road way Choice [+selection]




Shadows Dark area Negative side [-virtue]

Soul Energy Positive side [+virtue]




White light Bright color Kindess [+decency]




Gold Chemical element that is expensive

Precious [+valuable]




Rock Solid material Strong [+bold]

Roll Flexible material Weak [-bold]


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