Individual Assignment

“LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SONG LYRICS IN AVRIL

LAVIGNE’S ALBUM LET GO”
Dr. Rafiah Nur, M.Hum

Compiled As the Assignment at linguistics Analysis

Compiler by :

SITTI AMINA 215300001

MAGISTER PROGRAM
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF PARE PARE
2017
 Abstract

Song, in spite of being an amusement work, is often used to foreground a particular

ideology. The aim of this paper is to indentify the elements which configuration analysis of
song lyrics in Avril Lavigne’s album Let Go and find out the composer’s intention of the
song lyrics. The object of the paper is analysis elements. The data are lyrics of the songs
taken from Avril Lavigne’s album Let Go. In collecting the data, the writer uses the
documentation method, while the technique of collecting data is listening, recording and
documentation. The data are analyzed using seven criteria for textuality: cohesion, coherence,
intentionally, acceptability, informativeness, situationality, intertextuality. In addition, the
composer’s intentions in the song lyrics are analyzed by using speech act theory, especially
the illocutionary meaning. The result shows that the song lyrics in Avril Lavigne’s album Let
Go fulfilled the requirement as a linguistic analysis because the song lyrics contain the seven
criteria of textuality. Beside, the composer’s intentions are to show act of sadness, to show
act of anger, the act of happiness, to show act of disappointment, to show act of regret, to
show act of doubt, to show act of boredom, to show act of mistrust, to show act of
challenging, to show act of foolishness, to show act of wishes, to show act of surrender and to
show act of worry.

Keywords : album Let Go, linguistic analysis, lyrics

CHAPTER I
 INTRODUCTION

A. Background

There are many ways to express ideas among people in communication, for
instance: spoken language, written language and gesture. People cannot live without language
because it is really to communicate and convey information in life. The word language here is
applied to language as a system of human communication.As a means of communication,
language allows its speakers to talk about anything within their communication in any
situation. Moreover, language is really rich. Hence, through language people can express
almost everything such as thought, ideas, emotion, desire, message, etc.
Lyrics are not only the arrangement of words into sentence, but also the representation
of the composer's emotion and intention to describe their feelings such as love, struggle
,trouble ,jealousy, peace, antisocial, feeling etc.There are some messages sent by the singer or
composer to the listener with specific situation or context in song lyrics.
Related to the previous paragraph, the lyrics of song become away of
communicating.The following example will be given as the illustration. It is taken from the
first couplet of song “Losing Grip” in Avril Lavigne’s album Let Go. Based on the
researcher’s background knowledge, the singer and the composer refer to the same person.
Through a song,composers can express their feelings such as expressing kindness,
giving suggestion, or solving love affairs. A text is non-communicative if the criteria do not
apply to it.Viewed from this topic,seven criteria are given for textuality. They are criteria that
a sequence of sentences must meet in order to be qualified as a text. Seven criteria of
textuality consist of cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativeness,
situationality, and intertextuality. The criteria are important to linguistic analysis. The
researcher has to make an analysis based on both formal aspect and function aspect.
In this research, the researcher uses Song Lyrics in Avril Lavigne’s album Let Go as
the data and determines the configurations of linguistic analysis towards song lyrics based on
seven criteria of textuality, and applies the speech act theory to justify the composer's
intentions.

B. Problem Statement
The research formulates the problems of the study as follows:
1. What are the configurations of linguistic analysis of song lyrics in Avril Lavigne’s album
Let Go?
2. What are the purposes of the composer in Avril Lavigne’s album Let Go?

C. Objective of the study

Based on the problemstatement mention above, the researcher has following objective:
1. To identify the elements of song lyrics as linguistic analysis in Avril Lavigne’s album Let
Go.
2. To describe the composer's intention in Song Lyrics used in Avril Lavigne’s album Let
Go.

CHAPTER II
 REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

1. Song

Song, in spite of being an amusement work. Through a song,composers can express

their feelings such as expressing kindness, giving suggestion, or solving love affairs. A text
is non-communicative if the criteria do not apply to it.Viewed from this topic,seven criteria
are given for textuality. They are criteria that a sequence of sentences must meet in order to
be qualified as a text. Seven criteria of textuality consist of cohesion, coherence,
intentionality, acceptability, informativeness, situationality, and intertextuality.
2. Lyric

Lyrics are not only the arrangement of words into sentence, but also the representation
of the composer's emotion and intention to describe their feelings such as love, struggle
,trouble ,jealousy, peace, antisocial, feeling etc.There are some messages sent by the singer
or composer to the listener with specific situation or context in song lyrics.

3. Criteria of textuality in lyric

A text of lyric is non-communicative if the criteria do not apply to it.Viewed from this
topic,seven criteria are given for textuality. Seven criteria of textuality consist of
cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativeness, situationality, and
intertextuality. Cohesion is the connection result when the interpretation of textual
element is dependent on another element in a text. Coherence is one part of aspect that
supports the unity receiving in a text. It is a logical sequence that is understand able by
the readers. Coherence texts make sense to sequence that is understand able by the
readers. Coherence texts make sense to the reader. Intentionality refers to the composers
intentions in the song. Acceptability and informativeness constitute a sequence of
utterance be acceptable to the intended audience that contain information. Situationality
considers the situation deals with a sequence related by form or meaning to other
sequences of sentences. The criteria are important to linguistic analysis. The researcher
has to make an analysis based on both formal aspect and function aspect.

4. Album Let Go
 Let Go is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne,
released on 4 June 2002. For a year after signing a record deal with Arista, Lavigne
struggled due to conflicts in musical direction. She relocated to Los Angeles, California,
and recorded there, her earlier materials for the album; the kind of sound to which the label
was not amenable. She was paired to the production team The Matrix, who understood her
vision for the album.
The album was credited as the biggest pop debut of 2002, and was certified 6×
Platinum in the United States. It was released to generally positive reviews, although
Lavigne's songwriting received some criticism. It also did extremely well in Canada,
receiving a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association, as
well as reaching multi-platinum in many countries around the world, including the UK in
which she became the youngest female solo artist to have a number-one album in the
region.
As of December 2013, Let Go had sold over 20 million copies worldwide, becoming
Lavigne's highest-selling album to date. According to Billboard magazine, the album was
the number 21 top-selling album of the decade. A Rolling Stone readers poll named Let Go
as the fourth best album of the 2000s. On 18 March 2013, Let Go was re-released as a
double disc-set paired with her second studio album, Under My Skin, which is released
under RCA Records.

CHAPTER III
METHOD OF THE STUDY
1. Study 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 were taken from the song lyric with title "Let Go". Data were
collected through observation.

2. Object of the Study

The data of the study is from the song lyric in album Let Go with title
"Losing Grip". "Losing Grip" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne
released as the fourth single from her multi-platinum debut album Let Go.

3. Sources of the Data

There are two kinds of data in this research: main or primary data and secondary data.
1. Main Data
The main data was taken from the song lyric with title "Let Go".
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.

CHAPTER IV
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
1. Lyric of song

“Losing Grip”

Are you aware of what

You make me feel, baby
Right now I feel invisible to you
Like I'm not real
Didn't you feel me lock my arms around you
Why'd you turn away
Here's what I have to say
I was left to cry there
Waiting outside there
Grinning with the lost stare
That's when I decided
Why should I care
'Cause you weren't there
When I was scared
I was so alone
You, you need to listen
I'm startin' to trip
I'm losing my grip
And I'm in this thing alone
(oh oh yeah)
Am I just some chick
You placed beside you
To take somebody's place?
When you turn around
Can you recognize my face?
You used to love me
You used to hug me
But that wasn't the case
Everything wasn't ok
I was left to cry there
Waiting outside there
Grinning with a lost stare
That's when I decided
Why should I care
'Cause you weren't there when I was scared
I was so alone
You, you need to listen
I'm starting to trip
I'm losing my grip
And I'm in this thing alone
 Crying out loud
I'm crying out loud
Crying out loud
I'm crying out loud
Open your eyes
Open up wide
Why should I care
Cause you weren't there when I was scared
I was so alone
Why should I care
'Cause you weren't there when I was scared
I was so alone
Why should I care
If you don't care then I don't care
We're not going anywhere
Why should I care
'Cause you weren't there when I was scared
I was so alone
Why should I care
If you don't care then I don't care
We're not going anywhere

2. Discussion
Themes in Lavigne's music include messages of self-empowerment of women or
teenagers view. Lavigne believes her "songs about being yourself no matter what and going
after your dreams, even if your dream crazy and even if people tell you they will never
become a reality." On her debut album, Let Go, Lavigne prefer songs that are less main
stream, like "Losing Grip". "Losing Grip" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril
Lavigne released as the fourth single from her multi-platinum debut album, Let Go This
single sounds more severe than other singles performance album Let Go (perhaps this is
causing these weak song in the charts).
Based on the researcher’s background knowledge, the singer and the composer refer
to the same person. Because the singer is girl, this song is dedicated to boys. Therefore the
word “you” refers to a boy. The song tells about a girl who is disappointed with her boy
friend because her boy friend left her lonely. Whereas the girl love and needed him very
much. She is just disappointed and crying in her loneliness. There is intention of the singer
in warning the listeners not to be sad and surrender in life although they are losing grip or
losing someone beloved.
 CONCLUSION

The result shows that the song lyrics in Avril Lavigne’s album Let Go fulfilled the
requirement as a linguistic analysis because the song lyrics contain the seven criteria of
textuality. They are : cohesion, coherence, intentionally, acceptability, informativeness,
situationality, intertextuality. In addition, the composer’s intentions in the song lyrics are
analyzed by using speech act theory, especially the illocutionary meaning. Beside, the
composer’s intentions are to show act of sadness.
 Themes in Lavigne's music include messages of self-empowerment of women or
teenagers view. Lavigne believes her "songs about being yourself no matter what and
going after your dreams, even if your dream crazy and even if people tell you they will
never become a reality." On her debut album, Let Go, Lavigne prefer songs that are less
mainstream, like "Losing Grip".
This “Losing Grip” song tells about a girl who is disappointed with her boy friend
because her boy friend left her lonely. Whereas the girl love and needed him very much.
She is just disappointed and crying in her loneliness. There is intention of the singer in
warning the listeners not to be sad and surrender in life although they are losing grip or
losing someone beloved.

REFERENCES

http://rifa-effendy.blogspot.co.id/p/blog-page_30.html
https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avril_Lavigne
http://aturr.blogspot.co.id/2013/10/artikel-avril-ramona-lavigne-avril.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Go_(Avril_Lavigne_album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_Grip