I
INTRODUCTION
Creep, is a popular song among teenagers and even elders. Here is a video clip of the song we are going to discuss:
1. Background
Through
language, people can express their ideas, wishes, thought, and desires. Language has to be learned and used in social
community, method which the existence of language is beyond understanding
(Ramelan, 1992 : 14). Language plays an important role in human life. With
language, we can communicate and express our ideas, our feeling and also share
information with other people. One way to communicate with language is by using
music.
The
word “music” was derived from Greek word “musike” taken from the name of God
which led the world of art and science (Wiwik, 1997:413). The primary subject
matters of music are feelings and sounds. These imply that the content of music
is a revelation of feelings and sounds and that music gives us more sensitive
understanding of them. According to Webster (1983:781) “music is the science of
art ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination and in temporal
relationship to produce a composition having unity and continuity as well as
rhythm, melody, and harmony as its elements”. Greek philosophers and ancient
Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and
vertically as harmonies.
M.
Stubbs' textbook (Stubbs 1983:1), discourse analysis is defined as:
a)
concerned with language use beyond the
boundaries of a sentence/utterance,
b)
concerned with the interrelationships between language
and society and
c)
as concerned with the interactive or dialogic
properties of everyday communication.
Discourse
analysis is how texts relate to contexts of situation and context of culture,
how texts are produced as a social practice, what texts tell us about
happenings, what people think, believe etc, and how texts represent ideology
(power struggle etc.)
In
discourse, whether we realize it or not, we have learnt about pragmatics and
speech act. Both of them are the two aspects or theory in discourse analysis
that can not be separated. They give influence each other. For example, if we
want to say something politely, we have to consider the theory of speech act.
And we also can say something using pragmatics theory especially in the
social-relational aspects of and certain situation. So, pragmatics theory in
discourse is at the basis of an interest in face and politeness phenomena. One
entrance to the study of politeness phenomena can indeed be built around the
observation that language users often depart from the conditions of optimal
information exchange because sometime we also can do the false statement when
we want to say something to somebody.
The
phenomenon of song lyric is so impressive which make people feel admiration
because they are very interesting. The lyric has its own way to send the
message to the reader.
Brown
(1993: 228) defined that discourse as everything from single spoken
conversation to lengthy written text (article, book, and the like). Discourse
is communicative event involving language in context. Discourse Analysis is the
functional analysis of discourse. Discourse analysis in sometimes contracted
with analysis, which focuses on the format properties of language (Rankema,
1993: 34). Discourse is language about the sentence that we may begin to expect
exhibit a structure on the sentence, which is compression an expectation that
may unwarranted.
In this
study, the writer will focus on the implication meanings of the Radiohead’s
song lyric entitled “Creep”.
2. Problems
There
are many people who like to listen to this song, but they don’t really know the
true meaning of this song, especially in Indonesia. So the writer specifies the
problem through the following question:
What
is the message of the lyric song entitled “Creep” by Radiohead?
3. Objectives
The
writer ‘s hopes is that after reading this paper, the readers can be able to
know the true meaning of this song, so they not just able to sing it and listen
to it, but they can also understand it. And also the writer would like a little
bit to evaluate the use of some words or dictions that many of Indonesian
people consider it as a rude word while, in fact, the words are not rude. It
just the common language used by the native speaker to communicate in their
daily live.
II
REVIEW OF THE
RELATED LITERATURE
Before going to the material, first, I want to explain about the definition of text and discourse. To define and describe the scope of study of Text Linguistics and Discourse Analysis and to establish the differences between them both is not an easy task. Suffice it to say that the terms text and discourse are used in a variety of ways by different linguists and researchers: there is a considerable number of theoretical approaches to both Text Linguistics and Discourse Analysis and many of them belong to very different.
1.
Text
Text might be said that the term of the text is restricted to written language. Modern linguistics has introduced the concept of text that includes every type of utterance. For examples, text may be a magazine article, a television interview, a conversation or a cooking recipe. Besides that, according to the De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981), text is defined as communicative events which have seven criteria; there are cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informative, situational, and textual.
2.
Discourse
The term of discourse is restricted to spoken language. Discourse is influenced by contexts of situation and context of culture, how texts are produced as a social practice, what texts tell us about happenings, what people think, believe etc, and how texts represent ideology (power struggle etc). Discourse competence refers to the selection, sequencing, and arrangement of words, structures, and utterances to achieve a unified in spoken. This is where the top-down communicative intent and socio-cultural knowledge intersect with the lexical and grammatical resources to express message and attitudes and to create coherent texts.
3.
Pragmatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. It studies how the transmission of meaning depends not only on the linguistic knowledge (e.g. grammar, lexicon etc.) of the speaker and listener, but also on the context of the utterance, knowledge about the status of those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker, and so on. In this respect, pragmatics explains how language users are able to overcome apparent ambiguity, since meaning relies on the manner, place, time etc. of an utterance. The ability to understand another speaker's intended meaning is called pragmatic competence. An utterance describing pragmatic function is described as metapragmatic. Pragmatic awareness is regarded as one of the most challenging aspects of language learning, and comes only through experience.
Pragmatics is the study of the aspects of meaning and language use that are dependent on the speaker, the addressee and other features of the context of utterance. This principle seeks to account for not only how participants decide what to do next in conversation, but also how interlocutors go about interpreting what the previous speaker has just done. This principle is the broken down into specific maxims: Quantity (say only as much as necessary), Quality (try to make your contribution one that is true), Relation (be relevant), and manner (be brief and avoid ambiguity). Pragmatics theory also was introduced in target language studies, such as socio-cultural knowledge and mental models.
4.
Lyric
Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. The lyricist of traditional musical forms such as Opera is known as a librettist.
Lyric derives from the Greek word lyrikos, meaning "singing to the lyre". The word lyric came to be used for the "words of a song"; this meaning was recorded in 1876. The common plural (perhaps because of the association between the plurals lyrics and words), predominates contemporary usage. Use of the singular form lyric remains grammatically acceptable, yet remains considered erroneous in referring to a singular song word as a lyric.
Lyrics can be studied from an academic perspective. For example, some lyrics can be considered a form of social commentary. Lyrics often contain political, social and economic themes as well as aesthetic elements, and so can connote messages which are culturally significant. These messages can either be explicit or implied through metaphor or symbolism.
III
METHOD OF THE STUDY
1.
Research
Approach
In conducting this
study, the writer used the qualitative approach which means that the data were
analyzed qualitatively.
Berg (1989: 2) states
that “quality refers to the what, how, when, and where of a thing-its essence
and ambience. Qualitative research thus refers to the meanings, concepts,
definitions, characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and description of things.”
The data in this study is in the form of paraphrasing the song lyrics of
“Creep” by Radiohead.
2.
Object
of the Study
The
data of the study is from Radiohead’s song entitled “Creep”. Radiohead are an English alternative
rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom
Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar,
keyboard, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin
Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).
Radiohead
released their first single, "Creep", in 1992. The song was initially
unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of
their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993).
Creep is a famous song
in the world. Many people sing this song to express their feeling of broken or
unrealized love. And it is for the person who feels that they are the ugly or
weird person.
3. Sources of the Data
There
are two kinds of data in this research: main or primary data and secondary
data.
3.1 Main
Data
The
main data was taken from Radiohead’s song entitled “Creep”.
3.2 Secondary
Data
The secondary data were taken from the relevant
sources from the internet that may support the analysis and find the answer
from the problems.
4. Procedures of Collecting Data
The
procedure of collecting the data in this study was divided into several steps:
4.1 Reading
In the first step, the writer will read
and re-read and also listen to the song in order to get the meaning and the
feeling.
4.2 Analyzing
Next is analyzing the words which need
to be explained to find the meaning.
4.3 Reporting
The data which had been analyzed will be drawn in
the form of conclusion by paraphrasing the song based on the implicated
meaning.
IV
FINDING AND
DISCUSSION
1. Material
“Creep”
When
you were here before,
Couldn't look you in the eye
You're just like an angel,
Your skin makes me cry
You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so fuckin' special
But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here
I don't care if it hurts,
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice
when I'm not around
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here, ohhhh, ohhhh
She's running out again
She's running out
She run run run run...
run... run...
Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here
I don't belong here...
Couldn't look you in the eye
You're just like an angel,
Your skin makes me cry
You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so fuckin' special
But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here
I don't care if it hurts,
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice
when I'm not around
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here, ohhhh, ohhhh
She's running out again
She's running out
She run run run run...
run... run...
Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here
I don't belong here...
2. Discussion
Well,
the theme of the song is about the lack of confidence of the song writer. The
song talks about feelings of self inadequacy when in a relationship. The song
is about him (or anyone for that matter) who doesn’t think they are good enough
to be with someone. Maybe it really doesn´t matter the opinions of the others,
maybe he isn´t sarcastic in those lyrics, maybe he really sees himself like
that. He felt that he was weird and do not have any braves to express his feeling
to the girl who he loves very much.
This
song is the most pure and beautiful love song ever written, it is honest and
painful and divine and ugly just like love. Your
skin makes me cry - the feeling of being consumed by someone and feeling
totally inadequate is the most brutal emotion ever. I’m sure that everybody had
ever felt like this situation where sometimes we fell so hard to express our
feeling to somebody we love. Here the writer of the song really doesn’t know
about what will he does after all of thing that he has already done to the
girl. It can be seen in the sentence “What
the hell am I doin' here? I don’t belong here”. The sentence indicates that
the writer stuck in his own feeling and intends to give up, but in his deep
feeling, he wants to express his feeling, indeed.
Everyone
in this world surely wants to have everything to be perfect, but nothing is
perfect in this world.
Remember
people, you don´t feel like the titles
you have or what other people think
(this can only make you think if its right or no), but is rather how you feel
about yourself, maybe he is not comfortable with himself, maybe what he sings
really is what he was feeling, or feeling right now I don't know.
Many
people think (in Indonesian version) that this is the impolite song because of
the using improper words such as the word “fucking”
in “You're so fuckin' special”,
it’s not sarcastic, It’s sincere, the word “fucking”
here is to express degree comparison of “very”,
so the meaning of “fucking “ here is “very”.
It can be seen if we change the word “fucking”
with “very”, (“You're so very' special”) I think it
will not change the meaning of the song; instead it will make the meaning
clearer.
The
other word that looks like rude is in the word “What the hell am I doin' here?”, once again this is not such kind
of rude language. This is a common sentence that used by native speaker in
daily live to asking something that not clear enough.
In
understanding the meaning of the song, as I have already talked, we must know
the meaning of the words and also know the using of idiom that used by the
native speaker in order we are not judge that it is kind of rude word.
V
CONCLUSIONS
AND SUGGESTIONS
This
last chapter presents the important points from the whole discussion in the
study. Besides, it also suggests some recommendation for the readers or
listener.
1.
Conclusion
The
discussions from the previous chapters are summarized to accomplish the
objectives of study. By doing analysis of implication meaning of the song, I
find the Tenor of discourse from song lyrics which is being analyzed. I find
that the implicated meaning is not easy to understand. It needs to be analyzed
in order to get the meaning.
The
information of the spoken language can be gotten from listening to the song
which is recorded on a tape or any kind of media. Sometimes somebody tried to
get information only by listening, although the recording also provided with
the song book which contains the whole lyrics of the songs that tells to the
reader the message given by the composer. They would find some difficulties
when they tried to get the information without reading the lyric. That is the
reason why the lyric of the song become such an important part in getting the
information from the spoken language taken from the song.
2.
Suggestions
Some
recommendations in this section are addressed to the readers or listener, but
especially to the English students in order that they can enhance the literary
skills by doing discourse analysis. In addition, they can get a new point of
view in appreciating news item text which gives contribution improving
journalism discourse. I recommend that researchers who conduct the same issues
get more thorough and unequivocal knowledge about discourse analysis.
REFERENCES
Alba-Juez, Laura. 2009. Perspectives
on Discourse Analysis : Theory and Practice. England :
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Celce-Murcia
M, Olshtain E (2000) Discourse and Context in Language Teaching. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
Clarke,
Martin. Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless. 2000. ISBN 0-85965-332-3
Halliday
MAK, Hasan R (1976) Cohesion in English. Longman, London
Laurence
R. Horn and Gregory Ward. (2005) The Handbook of Pragmatics. Blackwell.
Mey,
Jacob L. (1993) Pragmatics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell (2nd ed.
2001).
Randall,
Mac. Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. 2000. ISBN 0-385-33393-5
Yule,
George (1996) Pragmatics (Oxford Introductions to Language Study).
Oxford University Press.