AN ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES AND ITS POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS IN TAYLOR SWIFT’S TOP 5 SONGS FROM “MIDNIGHTS” ALBUM

This study aims to figure out the kinds and functions of figurative language that may be
found in Taylor Swift’s song lyrics in “Midnights” album. In this study, the method used
was qualitative and content analysis. The instrument was the researcher herself and table
analysis. The corpus of this research is the lyrics of top 5 most popular songs in
“Midnights” album by Taylor Swift. Figurative languages found in the lyrics were
categorized into 10 categories based on Perrine’s theory (1969). In data analysis,
conceptual content analysis was applied as the data were collected by analyzing the
song lyrics and listening to the songs. From the result, there were only 9 out of 10 kinds
of figurative language expressions are found in the data. The figurative languages found
are metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy, symbol, paradox, hyperbole,
understatement, and irony. The total of the figurative language found were 78 figurative
languages. Metonymy was the most common type from the data due to many
descriptions of experiences in the song lyrics. Meanwhile, all 4 possible functions of
figurative language expressions in the song lyrics are found in the data. They are
imaginative pleasure, additional imagery, emotional intensity, and means of
concentration. The total of the possible functions of figurative language found were 28
data. The most dominant function found was emotional intensity. This showed that the
songs analyzed from “Midnights” album serving both informative statements and
emotional expressions. The conclusion is the song lyrics from “Midnights” album might be
useful for educational material and for students to study figurative language and to
interpret them because they contain a variety of figurative languages. The first suggestion
is to choose the study topic carefully and making sure it contains a lot of figurative
language, whether it's a song lyric, poem, short story, or book. Moreover, in order to fully
comprehend the variety of language used in song lyrics, a deep understanding of
figurative language is needed. In addition, the other researchers may select different
aspects other than figurative language and its possible function. Besides that, by utilizing
song lyrics and other literary works as a medium, the advice for the future teacher aims to
present various types of figurative language to the students.
Keywords: Figurative language, Possible Function, Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” album