THEME REFLECTED FROM METAPHORS IN AVRIL LAVIGNE’S …

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

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

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.


xiv

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


12

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


13

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


14

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


15

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


16

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,


17

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


18

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’


19

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


20

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


21

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


22

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.


23

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


24

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


25

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

Expression

Literal

Meaning

Metaphorical

Meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

There is more

than meets

the eye

Sees the eye Sees the physical

thing

Predicative [+object]


26

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.


27

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.


28

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


29

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

He was a punk,

she did ballet

A person

who likes

punk music

and dressed

like a punk

musician

A rude

character

Nominal [+harsh]

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.


30

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

He was a punk,

she did ballet

A style of

dancing that

performs its

soft and

gentle

moves.

A tender

character.

Nominal [+gentle]

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.


31

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

They had a

problem with

his baggy

clothes

A thing that

is difficult

to deal with

or to

understand

Something

that is

disliked.

Nominal [+disagreement]

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


32

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

They had a

problem with

his baggy

clothes

Attire that is

loose.

Rebellious

characteristic.

Nominal [+freedom]

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”


33

(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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

He was a sk8er

boi

A young

male person

who skates

A rebel person. Nominal [+rebel]


34

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

She had a pretty

face, but her

head was up in

space

The top part

of the body

The person as

a whole,

including

his/her mind

and personality

Nominal [+human]


35

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

Five years from

now, she sits at

home

A place to

rest

A condition of

being

unemployed

Nominal [-employed]


36

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

And they’ve all

got tickets to

see his show

An official

form for the

entrance to a

performance

A way to the

success of the

boy’s music

career

Nominal [+door]


37

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


38

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

But all of her

friends stuck up

their nose

They point

their nose

upwards.

They are

arrogant.

Predicative [+above]

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.


39

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

She said “see

you later, boy”

Hope to

meet again

with the boy

another time

Reject the boy Predicative [+separate]

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


40

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

She needed to

come back

down to earth

Towards the

lower place

Behave

inferior

Predicative [+below]

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


41

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

expressions

Literal meaning Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

Sk8er boi

rocking up

MTV

The skater boy

shaking up a

music television

channel

His music career

is extremely

increasing

Predicative [+rise]

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.


42

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

She tags along Come with

somebody

uninvitedly

Betrayed by

someone

Predicative [-faithful]

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.


43

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

Looks up at the

man that she

turned down

Stare up Show

admiration

Predicative [+respect]

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


44

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

Now he’s a

superstar,

slamming on

his guitar

The boy is

playing

guitar

The boy is now

becoming a

famous

musician

Predicative [+music]

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].


45

Table 20. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “There Is More Than Meets

the Eye”

Metaphorical

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

There is more

than meets the

eye

Seeing the

eyes

Seeing the

physical thing


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.


46

Table 21. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Haven't You Heard How We

Rock Each Other’s World?”

Metaphorical

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

Haven’t you

heard how we

rock each

other’s world?

Move or shake

something

Pleasant feeling Predicative [+happiness]

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].


47

Table 22. Analysis of Metaphorical Expression “Feeding the Baby, She’s All

Alone”

Metaphorical

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

Feeding the

baby, she’s all

alone

Giving

food to

baby

Activity done

by a mother

Sentential [+motherhood]

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


48

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

She had a pretty

face, but her

head was up in

space

The head is

in a high

place

Someone has a

personality of

being superior

to others

Sentential [+above]

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


49

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].


50

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


51

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.


52

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”.


53

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.


54

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.


55

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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


https://genius.com/Avril-lavigne-sk8er-boi-lyrics#note-2251933






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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

Expressions

Types

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

expressions

Literal

meaning

Metaphorical

meaning

Type of

Metaphor

Shared

concept

1. He was a

punk, she did

ballet

A person

who likes

punk music

and dressed

like a punk

musician

A rude

character

Nominal [+harsh]

2. He was a

punk, she did

ballet

A style of

dancing that

performs its

soft and

gentle

moves.

A tender

character.

Nominal [+gentle]

3. But all of her

friends stuck

up their nose

They point

their nose

upwards.

They are

arrogant.

Predicative [+above]

4. They had a

problem with

his baggy

clothes

A thing that

is difficult

to deal with

or to

understand

Something

that is

disliked.

Nominal [+disagreement]

5. They had a

problem with

his baggy

clothes

Attire that is

loose.

Rebellious

characteristic.

Nominal [+freedom]

6. He was a

sk8er boi

A young

male person

who skates

A rebel

person.

Nominal [+rebel]

7. She said “see

you later,

boy”

Hope to

meet again

Reject the boy Predicative [+separate]


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with the boy

another time

8. She had a

pretty face,

but her head

was up in

space

The top part

of the body

The person as

a whole,

including

his/her mind

and

personality

Nominal [+human]

9. She had a

pretty face,

but her head

was up in

space

The head is

in a high

place

Someone has

a personality

of being

superior to

others

Sentential [+above]

10. She needed to

come back

down to

earth

Towards the

lower place

Behave

inferior

Predicative [+below]

11. Five years

from now, she

sits at home

A place to

rest

Do not have

any job

Nominal [-employed]

12. Feeding the

baby, she’s

all alone

Giving food

to baby

Activity done

by a mother

Sentential [+motherhood]

13. Sk8er boi

rocking up

MTV

The skater

boy shaking

up a music

television

channel

His music

career is

extremely

increasing.

Predicative [+rise]

14. And they’ve

all got tickets

to see his

show

An official

form for the

entrance to

a

performance

A way to the

success of the

boy’s music

career

Nominal [+door]

15. She tags

along

Come with

somebody

uninvitedly

Betrayed by

someone

Predicative [-faithful]

16. Looks up at

the man that

she turned

down

Stare up Show

admiration

Predicative [+respect]

17. Now he’s a

superstar,

slamming on

his guitar

The boy is

playing

guitar

The boy is

now a famous

musician

Predicative [+music]


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18. There is more

than meets

the eye

Seeing the

eyes

Seeing the

physical thing


19. Haven’t you

heard how we

rock each

other’s

world?

A type of

loud

popular

music

Pleasant

feeling

Predicative [+happiness]


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