Journal of Language Education (JoLE), Vol 6 No.

1 May 2022
English Education Study Program, Universitas Baturaja

AN ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN SONG LYRIC ON THE

S.I.G.I.T “DETOURN ALBUM”

Elfas Malikhi Ragil Pamungkas1), Muhammad Wahyu Widiyanto2), Sukma Nur Ardini3)
English Education Study Program, Universitas PGRI Semarang
elfaspamungkas13@gmail.com

Abstract
This study focused on analyzing the figurative language contained in the album “Detourn”
by The S.I.G.I.T as non-native speakers. The aim of this research is; 1) to find out the type
of figurative language used in the album “Detourn” by The S.I.G.I.T. 2) to find out the
dominant type of figurative language used in The S.I.G.I.T album “Detourn”. Researchers
conducted qualitative research using song lyrics data. The result showed that; 1) there are 8
types of figurative language used in the album “Detourn” namely Hyperbole (1), Irony (1),
Personification (2), Synecdoche (2), Simile (3), Metonymy (11), Repetition (13), and
Metaphor (18). 2) Metaphor is the most dominant type of figurative language with a total of
18 expressions. There are 9 songs that have metaphors with an average of 2 expressions in
each song. The first song and the seventh song have 1 expression. The second, third, ninth,
tenth and eleventh songs with 2 expressions. The fifth and sixth songs with 3 expressions.

Keywords: Figurative Language, Type, “Detourn” album, The S.I.G.I.T.

Introduction
Language has an important role in a person's daily life because language is a tool for an individual
to communicate and cooperate with others. As a means of communication, language includes
words, collections of words, clauses, and sentences that are expressed orally and in writing.
According to Harmer (2007), language is used to convey between two individuals. Just as
individuals use language to convey reflection or data to others, the task of language in human
existence is very important. As a communication tool, language is also used to convey certain
intentions so that it can be understood by others. Language is also used as a tool for self-expression.
Language is also an important element in making a literary work. Some examples of literary works
that are strongly influenced by language are novels, poems, songs, etc (Andini & Pratiwi, 2013).
In making such literary works, writers usually add figurative language so that their work gets word
emphasis and has a deep meaning. Figurative language is a word or expression that has a different
meaning from its actual definition. It tends to be a representation or resemblance. Plan to make
correlations. It tends to redundancy or the use of similar sounding words or metaphorical
embellishments to make an emotional impact. According to Kennedy & Gioia (2005:118), an
interesting expression can be said to occur in every speaker or writer, because of its novelty or
accentuation, leaving the standard meaning of the word. The expression "non-literal language"
itself is descriptive: it is a derivation/formation/crystallization (metonymy) for the field of rapid
language methodology. One of the popular works of art related to figurative language is song. A
song is an artistic composition of tones or sounds in sequence, combination, and temporal

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Journal of Language Education (JoLE), Vol 6 No.1 May 2022
English Education Study Program, Universitas Baturaja

relationship (usually accompanied by musical instruments) to produce a musical composition that

has unity and continuity (contains rhythm). A song is a poem sung according to a certain tone,
rhythm, time signature, and melody so as to form a harmony. Singing is often also referred to as a
song which means an artistic composition of sequential, combination, and temporally related tones
or sounds (usually accompanied by musical instruments) to produce a musical composition that
has unity and continuity (contains rhythm). And various rhythmic notes or sounds are also called
songs. According to Hornby (2000:1281), "a song is a short piece of music with the words you
sing". A song contains various problems experienced by humans. It could be a problem that befell
him, his family, or the environment. In short, this is what makes many poets write poems which
are then sung using or not using instruments. In addition, songs are also written and sung to
describe one's feelings. Then it is made to persuade and advise readers and listeners. Various tones
or rhythmic sounds are also called songs. Songs can be sung solo, either (duet), three (trio) or
group (choir). the words in the song are usually in the form of rhythmic poetry, but some are
religious or free prose. Songs can be categorized into many types, depending on the measure used.
In making a song the writer must write the lyrics first. Lyrics are a collection of words that make
up a song. The meaning of the lyrics can be expressed or implied. Some lyrics are abstract, barely
understandable; some are written so clearly that by listening to them we can immediately
understand what the author is trying to express by writing them down. Lyrics are a written work
written by someone who imagines in stringing beautiful words that have a deep meaning. The
lyrics and music combined will be a beautiful song and pleasing to the ear. According to Hornby
(2000:802), he states that lyrics are expressing one's personal feelings and thoughts, related to
singing and written because poetry lyrics are the words of the song. That is, the words in the song
are not much different from poetry. Lyrics are poetry that is sung with the tone and rhythm that
accompanies it. lyrics are usually written in several lines of stanzas. Writing a song requires high
creativity and focus in order to create a lyric that will become a beautiful song. One of the
musicians who in writing lyrics using figurative language is The S.I.G.I.T.
Based on this background, the purpose of this study is to find out the types of figurative language
in the album Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T as a non-native speaker and to find out the dominant type
of figurative language in the album Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T as a non-native speaker.

Methodology
The writers used a descriptive qualitative approach in this research. The qualitative research
presented the data of the research in from qualitative description. Qualitative research can be
described as an effective model that occurs in a natural setting that enables the researcher to
develop a level of detail from being highly involved in the experience (Creswell, 2003).
In this research, the writers used a qualitative approach. The numbers used in this study are not the
main data, but as supporting data. The qualitative approach is analyzing the data of 11 songs in the
album Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T. Therefore, the data can be easier to understand. The descriptive
method uses to collect the data, analyze, classify, and conclude.

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Journal of Language Education (JoLE), Vol 6 No.1 May 2022
English Education Study Program, Universitas Baturaja

Methods of Data Collection

In collecting data, the writers took some steps as collecting data on 11 song lyrics in the album
Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T from the internet. According Subroto (1992:7), data can be gathered
through magazines, newspapper, books, and other sources. After collected the data, the writer
classifying the song lyrics based on the order of songs on the Detourn Album.
In the technique of data analysis, the writers were about to find figurative language used in Detourn
Album. The writers used some steps in analyzing the data such as: reading the lyric of the song
repeatedly to develop a deeper understanding of the song, collecting lyric data from 11 songs on
the album Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T through a website on the internet (musixmatch.com),
identifying every line on the songs. It was identified on the strong words which were used. The
writers analyzed the types of figurative language which is used on that line of the songs, making
conclusions from the data that has been analyzed and concludes the results of the analysis.
Method of Data Analysis
Analyzing qualitative data requires understanding how to make sense of the text song or lyrics and
images to answer the research question. In data analysis, the song lyrics were identified by the
writers. After doing the identification, the writers began to describe the identification of each
previous study and make a comparison, presenting the data, analyzing, and finally, the writers
summarize the research findings, make the conclusion and suggestion.
Finding and Discussion
The data to be concluded is taken from the songs of The S.I.G.I.T. The data has been grouped into
tables according to the use of figurative language and the intensity of figurative language use.
There are various types of figurative language but not all types of figurative language are used in
the 11 lyrics of The S.I.G.I.T song. The writers only found 8 types of figurative language contained
in The S.I.G.I.T songs, namely metaphor, hyperbole, simile, irony, metonymy, personification,
synecdoche, and repetition. The data has also been sorted by the tittle of the song in the album
playlist and the number of figurative languages from least to most. The writers also add a
description of figurative language code to make it easy for readers to understand.
The first table shows the result of the data analysis of the use of figurative language on 11 song
lyrics in The S.I.G.I.T album Detourn. These results are used to answer the first research question
about what kind of figurative language is used in the album Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T. The writers
also add a table of figurative language codes. The table as follows:
Table 1. Figurative language table codes

No Code of figurative language Name of figurative language

1 Mp Metaphor
2 P Personification
3 H Hyperbole
4 Mn Metonymy
5 Sy Synecdoche
6 I Irony
7 R Repetition
8 S Simile

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Journal of Language Education (JoLE), Vol 6 No.1 May 2022
English Education Study Program, Universitas Baturaja

Table 2. The table of types figurative language used in album Detourn

Song Mp P H Mn Sy I R S

1𝑠𝑡 song Detourn 1 - - 1 - - 1 -

2𝑛𝑑 song Let the 2 - - - - - 1 -

right one in
3𝑟𝑑 song Son of 2 - - 2 - - 1 -
Sam
𝑡ℎ
4 song Gate of - - - 3 - 1 1 -
15th
𝑡ℎ
5 song Tired eyes 3 - - - 1 - 1 1

6𝑡ℎ song Owl and 3 2 1 - 1 - 1 1

Wolf
𝑡ℎ
7 song Black 1 - - 2 - - 1 -
Summer
8𝑡ℎ song Red - - - 1 - - 1 -
Summer
9𝑡ℎ song Ring of 2 - - 1 - - 3 1
Fire
𝑡ℎ
10 song Cognition 2 - - 1 - - - -

11𝑡ℎ song 2 - - - - - 2 -
Conundrum
Total 18 2 1 11 2 1 13 3

In the first song, the writers found three types of figurative language which are used is Metaphor
1 expression, Metonymy 1 expression, and repetition 1 expressions. The second song is Metaphor
with 2 expressions used. The third song has 2 dominant figurative languages, namely metaphor
and metonymy with 2 expressions each. In the fourth song, metonymy becomes the dominant
figurative language with 3 expressions. The fifth song is a metaphor with 3 expressions. In the
sixth song, metaphor becomes the dominant figurative language with 3 expressions. The seventh
song metonymy with 2 expressions. In the eight songs, there are 2 figurative languages used,
namely metonymy and repetition with 1 expression each. The ninth song repetition is used with 3
expressions. The tenth song metaphor with 2 expressions. In the last song, there are two figurative
languages used, namely metaphor and repetition with 2 expressions each.

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Journal of Language Education (JoLE), Vol 6 No.1 May 2022
English Education Study Program, Universitas Baturaja

The second table shows the result of the data analysis of the most dominant figurative language in
the Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T. These results are used to answer the second research question about
what type of figurative language is most dominant used in the Detourn album by The Sigit. The
result of analysis are as follows:

Table 3. The dominant type of figurative language in album Detourn

No Kinds of Figurative Number of Figurative

Language Language
1 Hyperbole 1
2 Irony 1
3 Personification 2
4 Synecdoche 2
5 Simile 3
6 Metonymy 11
7 Repetition 13
8 Metaphor 18
Total 51

Based on the data in the table above, it can be concluded that there are fifty-one figures of speech
that are used in the eleven songs Detourn album. There is 1 expression of hyperbole, 1 expression
of irony, 2 expressions of personification, 2 expressions of synecdoche, 3 expressions of simile,
11 expressions of metonymy, 13 expressions of repetition, and 18 expressions of metaphor.

Discussion

In this part, the writers give some explanations about the research findings that the writers have
mentioned before. The writers have some kinds of figurative language in the eleven songs of the
Detourn album are chosen by the writers. The Detourn album is very interesting and the musical
instruments are very attractive. All the songs in the Detourn album are in English and written by
Indonesian people or non-native speakers. Most of the song on the Detourn album is about the
songwriter’s anxiety about the things about him. Of the eleven songs on the Detourn album, two
songs tell events that have been in the spotlight in the past, namely Son of Sam and Red Summer.

The research findings of his study also prove that figurative language is not only found in song
lyrics were written by native speakers. It can be found in the lyrics. Figurative language is a way
that the songwriter uses to express his/her ideas, feelings, and thought. Through the figure of
speech, the songwriter of the Detourn album presents the hidden message and literal meaning of
the songs. It needs a deep understanding in interpreting the meanings of the songs of the Detourn
album. The writers find out nine kinds of figurative language; they are metaphor, metonymy,
simile, repetition, hyperbole, synecdoche, irony, apostrophe, and the last one personification.
There are fifty-one that use figurative language. There is 1 expression of hyperbole, 1 expression
of irony, 2 expressions of personification, 2 expressions of synecdoche, 3 expressions of simile,

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Journal of Language Education (JoLE), Vol 6 No.1 May 2022
English Education Study Program, Universitas Baturaja

11 expressions of metonymy, 13 expressions of repetition, and 18 expressions of metaphor.

Figurative language used dominant is a metaphor.

Conclusions

In conclusion, based on the data that the writers found in the previous chapter it can be concluded:
There are 8 types of figurative language used in the album Detourn by The S.I.G.I.T, namely
hyperbole, irony, personification, synecdoche, simile, metonymy repetition, and metaphor. There
is 1 expression of hyperbole, 1 expression of irony, 2 expressions of personification, 2 expressions
of synecdoche, 3 expressions of simile, 11 expressions of metonymy, 13 expressions of repetition,
and 18 expressions of metaphor. Metaphor is the most dominant type of figurative language with
a total of 18 expressions. There are 9 songs that have metaphors with an average of 2 expressions
in each song. The first song and the seventh song have 1 expression. The second, third, ninth, tenth
and eleventh songs with 2 expressions. The fifth and sixth songs with 3 expressions.

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