Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SONGS LYRICS
A Thesis
ARMAWANSYAH
1111026000045
JAKARTA
2016
ABSTRACT
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best
by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for
the award of any other degree or diploma of the University or other Institute of
higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been in the text.
Armawansyah
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Merciful, the Great Creator and The Lord of Universe, for guiding the writer
amazingly and mysteriously during the process of this research. Peace and
salutation are upon the greatest prophet, Muhammad SAW, his family, and his
companions.
This work cannot be completed without a great deal of help from many
people, especially Drs. Saefudin, M.Pd. the writer‟s thesis advisor on writing this
thesis. The deepest gratitude for his guidance, helpful correction, patient, patient,
The writer also would like to express his deepest gratitude to the
individuals for helping her finishing this thesis and for their contribution in the
process of writing until it had become a complete work. They are as follows:
1. Mr. Prof. Dr. Sukron Kamala, M. Ag., as the dean of Letters and
Jakarta.
2. Mr. Drs. Saefudin, M.Pd, as the head of English Latters Department and
also as the writer‟s advisor for guiding and suggesting her in making a
Department.
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Humanities Faculty.
5. All of the lecturers in English Letters Department for teaching his many
6. All the staff of library and academic of Adab and Humanities Faculty and
9. All his closed and beloved friends in English Letters Department 2011,
May allah SWT, the almaighty and the merceful, bless them all. The writer
realizes that this paper is not fully perfect. Therefore, the writer would like to
The writer
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... i
APPROVEMENT .......................................................................................... ii
DECLARATION ............................................................................................ iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................... v
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................. 1
E. Research Methodology......................................................................... 4
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1. Semantics ....................................................................................... 9
2. Meaning.......................................................................................... 12
3. Kind of meaning............................................................................. 14
A. Data Description................................................................................... 27
A. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 43
B. Suggestions .......................................................................................... 44
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 45
APPENDICIES ................................................................................................ 47
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
As the social human being We are needs to interact with each other.
other.1 It is used to express our reaction to certain situations, and to reveal our
thoughts, ideas, emotions and feelings. Language also plays important roles to the
and the hearer. The main aim is to indicate something or some relations or even
some ideas, and it can be shown or called as it is meaning. In this case, meaning is
important and significant. If the hearer cannot comprehend the meanings of the
Semantics. In Semantics, meaning is divided into two parts, literal meaning and
non-literal meaning. Literal means based on the actual words. Non-literal meaning
1
Lyons, J. 1981. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. P. 3
2
Ibid. p. 3
1
2
is the other way around.3 The speaker means something different from his literal
meaning of the words, he has another intention‟s which different from the
meaning of words he said. The hearer may find it is difficult to understand what
the speaker wants to convey if the speaker speaks non-literally. There are a
number of ways in expressing ideas which deviate from the semantic conventions,
some of which are through the use of denotative and connotative meaning.
The words has two main kinds of meaning, denotation and connotation.
Denotation is the meaning of a word, which it is primarily, refers to the real word,
terms of a set of semantic properties which serve to identify the particular concept
associated with the word in question.4 For instance “cow” shows a kind of animal,
For instance, if I say “the sun rise in the morning” (1) You may defined the word
sun (1) that I mean is something big where shining the world, rises from the east
and sets in the west, but if I meet to my wife or my girl friend then I say “She is
my sun” (2) These two sentences used the same word, but do they have the same
meaning? The word Sun in the sentence “she is my sun” is meaningful. The word
sun (2) here is connotative meaning (positive connotation) that she is like a sun,
3
F.R Palmer . 2010. Semantics: A new Outline, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
p.14
4
Ibid.p. 42
5
Victoria Fromkin ; Rodman, Robert; Collin, Peter; Pilar, David. 1990. AnIntroduction to
Language. London: Holt Rinehart and Winston. (second edition) p.205
6
ChrisBarker. 2001. Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San Diego Press.
p.4
3
which we cannot life without the sun, same like we cannot life without our wife or
Song Lyrics Selected”. This topic is related to the study of meaning normally
research about “An Analysis of Connotative Meaning in Maher Zain‟s Song Lyrics
Selected”. The writer chooses Maher Zain‟s song because his song is very
interesting to examine and researched in more detail. Besides that, the writer has a
few reasons to be analysis this research. First of all, because the writer lives in
Muslim majority state and this song is full of religious message for a Muslim.
Then, the researcher takes five songs in different album. This religious side is
introduction for the reader and listener that if we wants to make a good relation
with our god, we must to be know about all of the way how to make a good
relations to our god. Besides that, this song gives a connotative meaning and then
B. Focus of Study
meaning in Maher Zain‟s songs Lyric selected : Forgive Me, Hold My Hand,
C. Research Question
Based on the focus of the research above, this research takes two
2. How are the message delivered in selected Maher Zain‟s songs Lyric
D. Significance of Study
research will enrich the reader‟s understanding about connotative meaning, and
especially for connotation subject, than can give inspiration to other students who
E. Research Methodology
The research is hoped that it could help the reader in understanding about:
song lyrics.
describe about connotative meaning on the Maher Zain song lyrics: Forgive
Me, Hold My Hand, Thank You Allah, Palestine will Be Free and My Little
Girl.
where is the written source used to obtain data.7 The data will be gained by
qualitative approach because the data are in the form of song lyrics with
several steps:
a. The researcher collected the data by downloading the songs and the
lyrics.
b. The writer listens to the song to find the connotative meaning of the
song lyrics.
c. The writer takes the words which are use connotative meaning of the
song lyrics.
d. After the data has been collected, the data will be analyzed, explaining
7
Edi Subroto, Pengantar Metode Penelitian Linguistik Structural, (Surakarta: Sebelas
Maret University Press, 1992).p.42.s
6
This research uses the data cards as main instrument to get qualitative data
when analyzing word in Maher Zain‟s song lyrics. Data cards is a relevant data
that written in the card.8 Then, the data card is focused on data description then
analyzed them in the data analysis. This research also makes notes, and chooses
the theory which is relevant with the words and used the dictionary.
5. Unit of Analysis
The unit analysis of this research is five songs lyrics from two
albums of Maher Zain‟s “Forgive Me and Thank You Allah”. The title of the song
lyrics as follows:
1. Forgive Me
2. Hold My Hand
5. My Little Girl.
8
Ibid. p.34
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Previous Research
There are three relevant previous studies. The first study is by Roni
the connotations found in the song lyrics, the messages of the songs, and the
Thousand Suns by using Leech‟s Theory (1990).In the conclusion, He found more
Songs and he state that the messages conveyed in the songs are mostly motivating
and persuasive.9
Connotative Meaning Analysis on the Word Child in Five Lyrics of Song”. This
songs. The data research are taken from five lyrics of the songs released in the
year between 1980‟s to early 1990‟s, which was the time when the cold war still
happening. To analyze connotative meaning of word child, the writer used the
connotative semiotics theory of Roland Barthes. From these lyrics his found the
9
Roni Kuswantoro Muhammadiyah, “A Study on Connotative Meaning of Language Used
in Scorpion‟s Song”, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta (2002)
7
8
different connotative meaning of word child from each lyric. The word child in
the lyrics when the children cry is used by white lion to connote “the new way to
govern”. Michael Learn to Rock group band used the word child in the lyric
Sleeping Child used to connote “innocent and Pureness”. Cranberries group band
used the word child in his lyric War Child to connote “Tool and Slave of the
Government”. Billy Joe uses the word child in his lyric Leningrad to connote “the
sacrifice and victim”. Bob Dylan used the word child in his lyrics Russian to
connote “weakness”. In this study the authors analyzed only the word child in five
lyrics above using Roland Barthes theory. This study equation with the writer
research is in analyzing the connotative meaning, it's just in this study he does
not analyze another words of connotative meaning in the song lyrics and this
The last study is by Elvira Sinta Hajar (2011), with her title “A
Analysis. In her research she is used the qualitative descriptive analysis as the
method of the research in analyzing the connotative meaning. In her analysis, she
found out the final result that shows the relation between picture and the text of
meaning of verbal and non verbal signs on comic, so that, the reader could
understand what the narrator meant. In analyzing the data, how the words and
picture are combine in comics. The different of this research with writer research
are in the theory that used in the research. And the corpus that she used is
10
Mahmud Abidarda, “A Connotative Meaning Analysis on The Word Child in Five
Lyrics of Song”, Letters and Humanities Faculty State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah
Jakarta (2010)
9
different with writer research so the result of this research will different with
writer research.
Then, the position of this research from the last previous research is to
analyze the song lyrics from Maher Zain in album “Forgive me and Thank You
Allah”. This research will find out the connotative meaning and explain about
connotative meaning that exists in the lyrics. And also, this research is not only
giving explanation about connotative meaning but also explain the message of
1. Semantics
linguist has the owner concept and principal about semantics itself. The linguists
who have critical contribution to semantics are Saeed, Lyons, Palmer, Kempson,
of word and sentences.12 Yule said that semantics is branch of linguistics which
states that semantics is the technical term used to refer to the study of meaning.14
11
John Lyons. Semantics. Vol 1 (New York: Cambridge University Press,1979) p.1.
12
John.I. Saeed., Semantics. Third Edition (London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009)
p.191
13
George Yule, The Study of Language: 4th Ed (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2010), p.127.
14
F.R. Palmer. Semantics: A New Outline (New York: Cambridge University Press,
1976) p.1.
10
In other words, semantic is the study of meaning in word, phrases, and sentences
to understand the text. Based on that perception about semantic related to internal
meaning, as borne on the syntactic levels of words, phrases, sentences, and even
discourse analysis, and the linkage of all of these to syntax. The decomposition
perspective towards meaning holds that the meaning of words can be analyzed by
words as the symbol) and response (interpretation and reaction of the listener).
Meaning as follows:
15
G.Leech. Semantics. (London: Penguin Books 1981),p.1
16
F.R Palmer. Semantics: A new Outline, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2010), p.5.
11
Object
The „symbol‟ is, of course, the linguistic element-the word, sentence, etc.,
and the „referent‟ the object, etc., in the world of experience, while „thought or
avoids many of the problems of naming – the classification, for instance, need not
language that allows him/her to identify the set of individuals which the word
denotes. For example, the meaning of happy in English is the information in the
head of the speaker that allows him to identify people who are happy; that is to
know when it is correct to say that someone is happy. The meaning of ripe in
english is the information in the head of the speaker that allows him to identify
fruit which are ripe; that is to know when it is correct to say that the fruit is ripe.
Then, the meaning of horse in English is the information in the head of the
speaker that allows him to identify the horse from other animal; that is to know
when it is correct to differentiate the horse from other animals. Therefore, it can
17
Ogden & Richards. The meaning of meaning(1923), p.82
18
F.R Palmer. op. cit.(2010) p.26.
12
be understood that the meaning is all information in the head of the user of a
referred as the signifier (significant) and the signified (signify),19 then actually the
components, significant and signify are things which cannot be separated each
other.
between word and referent may only be understood through the existing concepts
in the brain, both on the speaker and the listener. The concepts are as a shadow,
2. Meaning
always fused in the speech of the word and sentence. In Oxford Dictionary,
meaning is the relationship between languages with the world which has been
agreed by the users so that can be understood. It can be concluded that meaning is
the result of the relationship between languages and the world, determination of
meaning occurs because the user agreement and the realization of meaning can be
19
F.R Palmer (2010), op. Cit. P.5.
20
John Lyons. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. ( New York Cambridge University
Press, 1968). p. 308
13
of a word is to understand the word study which regard to the relationships the
and provisionally, as the study of meaning”.22 Here are some of the theories
as a datum and as a criterion of analysis: linguists study meaning, and also use
Bussman opinions are to determine the definition of meaning can be used four
both phonetically and graphically; (2) the cognitive aspects involved when
producing an abstract concept or when realizing the charge perceptive; (3) objects,
characteristics and circumstances in the real world who are referred through
21
John Lyons, Linguistic Semantics an Introduction (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1977), p.2
22
John Lyon, op. cit. (1968) p.400
23
Trask, Op. Cit., p.120
14
linguistic expression; and (4) speakers and the specific context of the situation
3. Kinds of Meaning
and therefore a part of the grammar. Our mental storehouse of information about
words and morphemes is grammar in that the vocabulary or lexicon does not only
list the lexeme (the minimal distinctive unit in semantic system of a language), but
associate with each lexeme all the information that is required by the rules of
grammar.
Additionally, Chaer says that lexical meaning refers to the real meaning,
meaning that proper with our sense observation, or for granted meaning. It has
been known that a language has amount of lexical system by which the semantics
syntaxmatic.25
process of suffix -er added to a stem big produces bigger, the grammatical
meaning appears that the degree of the word bigger is more than the word big in
24
Hadumod Busmann. Routledge Dictionary of language and Linguistics ( Terjemahan
dan suntingan dalam bahasa inggris oleh Gregory P. Trauth dan Kerstin Kazzazi. London:
Routledge, 1996) pp.732-733
25
Abdul Chaer. Linguistik Umum. (Jakarta: PT. Rineka Cipta, 1994) p.289
26
Ibid p.290
15
when the language is put into use. For example, the word rain has different
1. Why does it always rain on me?, Even when the sun is shining ( part of
The word rain (1) in the first example has a meaning „sadness because of
pain.‟ The word Rain (2) in the second example is the real rain that water fall
from the sky. These two sentences above used the same word but it has different
information that it belongs to one or more subclasses of transitive verbs; and (b)
all the information that is needed, including the stems, for the selection or
as black, dog, paper are referential-meaning words because each has its referrent
in the actual world. On the contrary, such words as since, because and then are
27
Ibid.p.290
28
John Lyon. Language and Linguistics. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995).p.32
29
Ibid p.291
16
deictic word, whose referent depends on the context in which it is used. The
referent of these words can move from one entity to another. Deictic words
include pronoun (I, he, she, you, we, they, it) which is called person deixis; words
which designate space (here, there) which is called spatial deixis; words which
designate time (now, yesterday, later, tomorrow) which is called temporal deixis;
and demonstrative determiner (this, that, these, those).30 The interpretation of such
expressions depends on the speaker and hearer sharing the same context. For
Miley Cyrus (1) : “I never want you to leave.”(Title “I miss you” in Miley
In the example above, the word I in the first utterance refers to Miley Cyrus (1),
the second refers to Adele (2) and the last refers to Bruno Mars (3).
its own way. In English, we use the word foot to denote a leg. In Russian, there is
30
George Yule. Pragmatics. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996). p.9
17
no equivalent for foot – simply the word noga to denote the whole leg including
the foot.31
meaning which re conveyed by the literal use of a word”.33 Some of the basic
components of a word like needle in English might include „thin, sharp, steel,
of a word is its literal meaning – the definition you did find in the dictionary.
Sometime, the components of its meaning are not mentioned. For example: the
song lyrics from Beyonce with the title “If I were a boy”
31
D.A Wilkins. Linguistics in Language Teaching. Great Britain: ELBS (The English
Language Book Society and Edward Arnold Publishers, 1983) Ltd.p.119
32
Brinton, J.L. The Structure of Modern English A Linguistic Introduction.
(Amsterdam/Philadelphia.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2000).p.132
33
George Yule. The Study of Language: an Introduction. (New York: Canbridge
University Press, 1985).p.92
34
W. Widarso. Bahasa Inggris: Dialek, Ragam, Jargon, Slang, Blends, Clipped Words.
(Jogjakarta: Kanisius, 1989) .p.6
18
The word „boy‟ in Beyonce song lyrics means „a male child or youth‟. Its
Another example is: the song lyrics from B5 with title "Siamese Cat Song”
The word “cat.”, the denotative meaning (how the dictionary defines
connotative meaning, it depends. If we like cats, the word “cat” may suggest
word.36Connotative meaning is subjective and not shared in the same way by all
speakers of a language. The degree of the connotative value will be different for
everyone since the way one perceives something in this universe and his or her
35
Lyons. op.cit. p. 47
36
A. Chaer, op.cit. p.292
19
emotional feeling. For example, the words thin, lean, skinny, bony, slender and
The words thin and lean are the most general and have a neutral
connotative value. The words skinny (very thin, especially in an unappealing and
unhealthy way) and bony (extremely thin and with prominent bones) have a
negative connotation. One will feel disagreeable if he or she is said skinny or bony
other two words slender (gracefully and attractively thin) and slim (pleasingly thin
and well-proportioned) carry a positive connotation. Hence one will feel more
constituents and their grammatical relations. For example, the meaning of the
sentence „We are in the same boat‟ is acquired from the meanings of „We‟ + „are‟
37
G. Leech. Semantics. (London: Penguin, 1974). p.15
38
B.U. Siregar. Introductory Notes on Semantics. (Medan: Fakultas Sastra USU, 2005).
p.8
39
G. Leech. op. cit p. 212
20
utterance. Although words cannot be used to mean something what they do not
from what it means literally. In other words, a speaker sometimes speaks non-
with set meanings that cannot be calculated by adding up the separate meanings of
lexically or grammatically. For example, the meaning of the sentence „We are in
the same boat‟ has a literal meaning that can be summed up from the meaning of
its constituents. But the sentence also has a connotation meaning „having the same
Lyric derives from the Greek word lyrikos, meaning "singing to the lyre”
A lyric poem is one that expresses a subjective, personal point of view. The word
lyric came to be used for the "word sofa 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
40
Ibid. p.10
21
strophes and directly expressing the poet own thoughts and sentiments. Since
lyrics become the part of songs or poem, it cannot be denied that lyric can
influence the beauty of the song or poem, because the beauty of the song or poem
In addition Abrams states that lyric is “any fairy short poem, consisting of
Greek, lyric signified a song rendered to the accompaniment of lyric. He also adds
that in some current usages, lyric still retains the sense of a poem written to be set
to music, for instance, the hymn is a lyric on a religious subject that is intended to
be sung.
2. Connotation of Lyrics
Lir-Ilir, Tandure wus sumilir....” „Wake up, the plant has been grown.‟
This part of song lyrics from Java. The sentence above has a connotative
meaning, the words wake up, the plant and grown there is no the real and fake
meaning. The word wake up it mean that to be awake, relax by moving with our
41
Hedra Krisdiato,pesan Lirik lagu, accessed on November 2,2009
http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/lyrics, p.3
42
M.H Abrams. A Glossary of Literary Terms. (Harcourt Brace College Publisher:
Orlando, 2002) p.108
22
arm to get the fresh air, this word means that we have to be always conscious and
aware of the situation. The words the plant has been grown mean the “plants” is
as the representation of the moslem society that had already been growing at that
time. The ideological color of moslem is green. The words in that lyrics include
positive connotation, because grown of plant is symbol of life. The writer will use
the word die, to show the negative connotation. That song lyrics contains the
religious message that we should be aware of our sins and repent immediately to
Allah SWT with always be faith to Allah‟s commands and avoid all Allah‟s
prohibitions. Not only it, but also we must wake up for Dakwah in the right way
to Allah SWT.
item it refers to. According to Pateda he states that “connotation is the meaning
which appears by association of language used by the speaker or listener about the
language which they speak or read”.43Chris Barker state that connotation is “the
meaning”.44
extension. Alternatively, the connotation of the word may be thought of as the set
of all its possible referents (as opposed to merely the actual ones). A word's
denotation is the collection of things it refers to; its connotation is what it implied
43
Prof.Dr. Mansoer Pateda. 2001. Semantik Leksikal. Jakarta. Rineka
Cipta.p.112
44
Chris Barker. 2001. Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San Diego Press.
p.4
23
about the things it is used to refer to. The denotation of dog is (something like)
four-legged canine carnivore. So saying "you are a dog" would imply that you
were ugly or aggressive rather than stating that you were canine. Connotation also
the kind of meaning which is indicated that we abstract away from emotional and
refers to. For example word dog in Arabic if someone called as a dog you are not
good people because in Arab dog has negative connotation as the dirty animal in
contras in west country dog has good connotation as the symbol of faithfulness.
have for some speaker but not for others (as opposed to the fixed and generally
accepted meaning of word). For instance, the word “feminist” and “environment”
experience.
literature. For example the word “democracy, freedom, and communist” often
occur with emotive connotations of such highly-charged nature that speaker may
be blind to the fact that there is no agreed-upon definition underlying their use. It
is their potent affective meanings which makes such words attractive to the
45
Victoria Fromkin; Rodman, Robert; Collin, Peter; Pilar, David. 1990. An Introduction
to Language. London: Holt Rinehart and Winston.p.206
24
meaning which re conveyed by the literal use of a word.46 Some of the basic
components of a word like needle in English might include „thin, sharp, steel,
the denotative meaning, a word sometimes has the emotional overtones or we call
„connotative‟ meaning.47 The other important thing whenever we are talking about
In addition, Chaer states that connotative meaning can be divided into two
kinds, namely positive connotative (purr word) and negative connotative (snarl
word). Besides the positive and negative connotative meaning, there is neutral that
Cottage Shanty/shack
46
Yule .1985. Op.Cit.p.92
47
Chaer., op. cit. p.292
48
Ibid., p. 292
25
and rape summon clouds of negative emotional connotations. Many words and
word pub:
and so on. Similarly, words such as summer, love, and melody carry a variety of
positive emotional connotative associations for most people, while words such as
cancer, rape, and homeless have negative emotional connotations. In all cases, the
49
A.S. Hornby. Oxford Advance Learner‟s Dictionary Sixth Edition. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press 2000). P.200
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH FINDING
A. Data Description
In the third chapter the writer will describe the analysis of connotation in
selected lyrics of Maher Zain‟s songs. There are five songs that will be analyzed
as the corpuses of this research. The five Maher Zain‟s songs lyric provide:
(1)Forgive Me (2)Hold My Hand (3) Thank You Allah (4) Palestine will Be Free
This study is aimed to find a connotation that exists in the song lyrics.
Therefore, after the data has been collected, the next step is data analysis. It means
by reading and observing the data has been collected, the writer does the analysis
process. The following table shows the connotation meanings on Maher Zain song
(L.1)
(L.1)
outBlind(L.7)
26
27
neighbor (L.47)
(L.3)
9 Thank you Allah And That When you opened Neutral Connotation
free
(L.2)
(L.18)
B. Data Analysis
In this data analysis, the writer uses theory of John Lyons and another
denotation or common meaning contained in the lyric itself. The word lose means
attended with defeat or fail to win (a game, contest, etc.) and the word battle has
several meanings (1) a military fight between groups of soldiers, ships, airplanes,
In the song lyrics above the sentence “Lost the battle” is not the true
meaning, but connotative meaning, we can see from the second definition of battle
above “a violent fight in which people use weapons”. As in the lyrics of the song,
Maher Zain does not mention about the weapon or the bomb and the other tools of
war. The lyric “lost the battle” here has the implicit meaning; “Lost the battle”
means as fail in running life on earth “I am about to fail in running life on earth.
The song writer tries to implement a life like the battle because real life is a battle,
there are only two options: win or lose the battle. In Islam the person who wins in
a battle is the one who can perform the duties ordered by ALLAH SWT and away
from the ban. The word “battle” has negative connotation because Islam is
peaceful religion and does not encourage the people to be in war. The positive
connotation is “running life”. The author use battle word instead of war, because
war involves an amount of people, whereas the word battle is for someone to
someone. In this case the battle here is about our relation with God.
50
Random House Webster‟s College Dictionary (copyright by random house, inc. 2010)
p. 106
29
c) The Message
The lyrics contain the message to be conveyed by the author, the author
hopes the listeners to be aware of the mistakes that have been done over the years.
The authors hope that the listeners get back to straight path and apologize to Allah
SWT.
According to denotative meaning the word Flower (N) means (1) the part
of a plant that is often brightly colored, that usually lasts a short time, (2) from
which the seed or fruit develops. Crying (adj) means (1) to produce tears from
your eyes often while making loud sounds because of pain, sorrow, or other
strong emotions (2) to shout or say something loudly. Loud (adj) means (1)
making or causing a lot of noise: strong and noticeable in sound (2) of a person:
The word “flower” in connotation means human being. The humans are
like a flower that cries out loud. The author uses the word “flower” as a human
because the flower is life like human beings and need food to survive. The word
symbol of grief, pain and suffering. The word “loud” here connotes hard or strong
or very. From the explanation above the lyrics known as the connotations of the
51
Ibid. p. 473
30
lyrics are human beings who are suffering. The sentence "I hear the flower kinda
crying loud" connotes "I hear the human being in hard suffering" this is positive
connotation because the flower is identical with smell good and good looking.
The author can use the word “dog” or “pork” as the negative connotation such as;
“the dog kinda crying loud”. Why the author using the word “flower” not
“blossom” because the term “flower” is most popular than “blossom” and the
word “flower” especially applies when part or all of the reproductive structure is
distinctive in color and form. “Blossom” is a term which given to the flower of
c) The Message
In these song lyrics the author gives the message that many of our brothers
who are crying is because of the suffering and the pain that they are experiencing
out there. We should care about the pain they experience and help them in many
ways.
unhappiness:52
52
Ibid. p. 152
31
The connotation of these lyrics is the word “breezes”. This lyric is not
much different with the previous one, in this lyric the author still telling about
sadness. The author uses the word “breezes” as a mediator to tell about sadness
that happen to his brother. The word “breezes” here is a symbol of something that
can be heard and felt, but cannot be seen. The author hears the sound in sad on his
brother who cannot be seen by him, but can be felt of their experience. This is
positive connotation because the “Breezes” is slow wind, the neutral connotation
is wind and the negative connotation is “Tornado”. The author does not use the
wind because the word wind is too general than the word “Breezes”.
c) The Message
In this lyric, the author gives the message that there are many brothers and
The word blind in denotation means unable to see or has two eyes but
In this lyric the author uses interrogative sentence. The sentence “did we
really turn out blend” is interrogative sentence that tends to the listener. The word
“blind” here connotes “pretend do not see” or “cannot see the suffer that our
brother perceived”. In the next lyric “we don‟t see that we have kept hurting each
other”, the word blind and see are two contrast things. Both blind and see cannot
53
Ibid. p. 131
32
be separated with sense of sight that is eyes, but here both of them not addressed
to the eyes but to the heart. The word “blind” is negative connotation because the
word blind here is pretend to blind and not really blind. The author does not use
the word “sightless or unseeing” because both of them are spell able in the song.
c) The Message
The message of the lyric to the listener is we should care to our brothers
and sisters who are experiencing difficulties out there because we really know
what our brother felt, but we pretend to careless. The words really seemed to be
“SMILE”
make the corners of your mouth turn up in an expression that shows happiness,
From the explanation above we can find out what the meaning of
“children” and “smile”. Child's world is a world where periods of playing that
there is no problem and always be happy with his friends. The sentence “lost their
smile” means lost their time to play with their friends. The word "smile” here is
full of meaning, smile is not only the movement of lips, but smile is symbol of
54
Ibid. p. 1157
33
like they‟ve lost their smile” connotes “Children seem like they‟ve lost their time
laughing is not too good in Islam religion. The synonym of the word smile is
“smirk”, Maher Zain does not use “smirk” to change the word “smile” because
firstly, the word “smile” is most popular than the word “smirk”, secondly the
word “smirk” is not really “smile”, it means not smile come from heart or soul,
c) The Message:
From the word “smile” above the author gives the message that the
hostility and warfare we have eliminated the happiness in children who armpits
guilty. Supposedly the kids do not deserve this kind of treatment just because of
their selfishness.
The words “neighbor” has connotative meaning, the word neighbor means
to show that we are brother or "I'm always gonna be your brother". The author
uses the word neighbor to show that we are brothers because the neighbor is the
closest person in our life. So the word neighbor connote to Brother. The word
55
Ibid. p. 823
34
and the negative connotation is bystander. The author used the word “neighbor
c) The Message
In this song lyric, there is implicit message that we are brothers although our
distance so far away. We are still being neighbors although distance separates us.
Muslim".
usually without having a particular purpose or direction. The dark means having
very little or no light, not light in color: of a color that closer to black than white.56
The word “wandered” in these song lyrics addressed to the author himself.
The author assuming that he is a lost wanderer. Usually the wandered is without
life or even part of the way God Almighty as the goal of his life. The word dark is
usually synonymous with the black color and the black color is usually tended to
things that are negative as the symbol of darkness, gloomy and scary. The word
“dark” in the connotative means “gloomy period” where the author being far away
56
Ibid. p. 315
35
from Allah. The word dark is negative connotation because the dark in Islam is
the symbol of sin or the symbol of the hell. The positive connotation is obscure
c) The Message
In this song lyric there are messages delivered by the authors that we are
like a wanderer lost in the dark. Life is like a long journey that must be passed;
only there are two options that we can choose. The right path or the wrong path,
the right path will lead us to our final destination is heaven and the wrong path
The word Home means the place (such as a house or apartment) where a
The word you are referring to ALLAH as a god of Moeslim society. The
word “home” has connotations, the word home don‟t mean that the home like we
knew such as has the roof, has pillar or wall, but the home here means back to the
right way that Allah bless. “You brought me Home” means Allah brought me to
go back to the right way. We can see from the previous lyric “I walked everyday
Further and further away from you O Allah”. So the word “Home” here means
“back to the way of Allah”. The word “home” here is neutral connotation. Maher
Zain don‟t uses the other word like the word “house” because the house is the
57
Ibid. p. 588
36
building live able or habitable and the house consist of living room, the kitchen,
the bad room, the roof, the door and so on. The “home” is an explanation a place
where we feel comfortable if you are there even though it was not house.
c) The Message
In the lyrics above there a message give to us that GOD is always with us,
always lead us to re-beaten way. No matter how far we go left from Allah, but he
always wanted us to go back to his way. From the word “home” we know Maher
Zain want to tell us that the real home we will go back is to the way of Allah.
“DOORS” FOR ME
The word the doors means a moveable piece of wood, glass, or metal that
swings or slides open and shut so that people can enter or leave a room, building,
The “door” is a place where people want to go into the house, building or
other room. The door will open when homeowners allow entry, but when the door
closed so no one could get into the house. Here, the sentence when you open the
doors for me means when “you forgive me” or give me the chance to change the
manner. The word “door” is neutral connotation. Maher Zain doesn‟t use the word
58
Ibid. p. 367
37
“gate” to change the “door” because the “gate” is for large door and generally the
c) The Message
The message to be conveyed in the song lyric are ALLAH always give us
the chance to change our life way. From the word “door” we know that the chance
The word head means (1) the part of the body containing the brain, eyes,
ears, nose, and mouth (2) a person‟s mental ability: mind or intellect (3) a person
The word my “head” high means that they (the people of Palestine) did not
give up and continue to defend him. The word “head” is a symbol of power in the
human body as we know that hair is a crown that exists within the human body, it
is located in the head, the brain is a tool for thinking if it is broken, then the
human would be crazy, it was located in the head. Almost all senses of the human
body that is located in the head. I keep my head high means I keep my power
high. The word “head” in the song lyrics is positive connotation because the head
here is a symbol of spirit and never give up. Maher Zain don‟t use the other part
59
Ibid. p. 565
38
of body to change the word “head” because the word head is most precious than
c) The Message
From the word Head that the people of Palestine are never give up, they
always keep their spirit high. The message delivered by Maher Zain that we have
to keep fighting for our rights, do not give up and keep our self-respect.
The rain (N) means (1) water that falls in drops from clouds in the sky (2)
weather in which there is a lot of rain: rainy weather (3) large amounts of rain that
The author assumed that the rockets and the bombs were falling like rain.
The rain is a symbol of waterfall from the sky and unavoidable seem like the
bombs and rockets that fell was not a bit and unavoidable. The word sunlight is a
connotation that is usually when the rains fall there is no sunlight, but in this lyric
there is sun when it rains. There were connotations contained in the lyrics during
the single day that bombs and rockets continue to destroy Palestine. The word
“rain” is negative connotation because the word rain above refers to rocket and
bomb that destroy Palestine. Maher Zain uses the word “rain” don‟t uses the word
“drizzle” because the word drizzle is for little rain that drooped. The bombs and
60
Ibid. p. 1018
39
c) The Message
wants to tell to the audience that the suffered situation by his brothers in Palestine.
Bombs and rockets had been like the rain falling in the day and the night.
The word child means (1) a young person, (2) a son or daughter, (3) an
The word “child” is a symbol of something small, have not strong power
and cannot do something more. The word child is aimed at Palestine state that the
state of Palestine is a small country, which it does not have power in the eyes of
the world. Palestine countries do not have sophisticated equipment such as armed
conflicts the enemy is owned by the state of Israel. The word child here is to
inform the other that Palestine is only small state and need help from the other.
The word child is neutral connotation, the negative connotation is adult, and
positive connotation is baby. Maher Zain uses the word “child” don‟t uses the
word “kid” because it is only for one‟s people not for many people.
c) The Message
The message conveyed in these song lyrics of is that even though we are in
a small viewing by other nations but that does not mean we cannot fight and had
no self-esteem.
61
Ibid. p. 211
40
The word Blessing (N) means (1) approval that allows or helps you to do
something (2) help and approval from god (3) something that helps you or brings
The word “above” in connotation means god Allah. In that lyrics, the word
before the word “above” includes the word “blessing”. The blessing is only from
god and the one that who can give the blessing to us only god. The word god is
replaced with the word above because God is exalted there is no higher than
anything else. There are many songs that changed the word god into above one of
them is "It's the greatest thing from the man above" song lyric from THE
CRANBERRIES with the title "Just My Imagination". So the sentence “you are
the blessing from above” connotes “you are the blessing from God Allah”. The
word above here is positive connotation because it refers to Allah. Maher Zain
don‟t use the word “over” to change the word “above” because the word over is
for something that more shows the movement of one location or from the position
of one to another.
c) The Message
62
Ibid. p. 4
41
The message of this song lyrics above are that we have to maintain,
cherish and train our children in order to be a good person, devout to his parents
and his god ALLAH. As we know something that given by gods we must guard
The word “shining” (adj) are producing or reflecting a bright steady light
excellent or perfect. Star (N) means (1) any one of the object in space that are
made of burning gas and that look like points of light in the night sky (2) a star or
people‟s lives (3) something (such as a symbol or medal) with five or more points
The word “shining star” is the implementation of one's nature and in this
song lyric the words shining star addressed to a child of the author. Shining star
looks beautiful in the sky when the night comes and light up when the dark,
likewise with the child gives a new color in life, able to give spirit and motivation
when we are in the sadness. You are like a shining star connotes you are give new
color in my life and accompany me in a lonely night. The word star is positive
connotation because the star here means something good, like shining, height, and
colorful. Maher Zain doesn‟t use the other word like the moon or the sun to
change the word star, as we know both of them also shining. Maher Zain doesn‟t
63
Ibid. p. 1194
42
use those words because he tells about his little girl and as we know the star is the
c) The Message
The messages to be conveyed in this song lyric are our child is color given
in our life, make her like the stars in the sky that is capable of illuminating the
A. Conclusions
Based on the research problems in the first chapter and the research
findings of the data description and analyses in the third chapter, the
The writer concludes that denotative meaning lies on almost every song
lyrics of Maher Zain‟s, but the connotative meaning only lies fourteen words
in the five song lyrics of Maher Zain‟s, which it is the main data of this study.
There are three kinds of connotative meaning found there; six positive
the most connotative that used in the data are positive connotation. Positive
listener.
From the analysis in the third chapter, the writer finds the general
meaning are people should construct good relation with others, and virtuous
relation to Allah.
In the lyrics of Forgive me and Thank you Allah, Maher Zain has
convince the relations between human to Allah such as to keep from lust and
Hand, Palestine Will be Free, and My Little Girl Songs tell about how the
43
44
way to make a maintain relation to the others, such as caring each other‟s,
avoid the war that harm human race, and take care the children as a given
from ALLAH.
From the finding above the writer assumes that Maher Zain uses positive
the listener easy to understand what the author mean to and uses negative
lyric, and the denotative meaning occurs in majority of the lyric. The message
connotative meaning.
B. Suggestion
The other researchers can reach wider than the writer research, for the
example first, the other researchers can analyze this song lyrics with
which can analyze the deep meaning exist in the song lyrics of Maher Zain.
Second, the other researchers can also analyze this song lyric with metaphor
analyze.
45
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barker, Chris. (2001) Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San Diego
Press.
APPENDICES
FORGIVE ME
HOLD MY HAND
I hear the flowers kinda crying loud Why dont we share the same love
The breezes sound in sad Tell me why not
Oh no Life is shorter than most have thought
Tell me when did we become, Hold my hand
So cold and empty inside There are many ways to do it right
Lost a way long time ago Hold my hand
Did we really turn out blind Turn around and see what we've left
We don't see that we keep hurting each behind
other no Hold my hand my friend
All we do is just fight We can save the good spirit of me and
Now we share the same bright sun, you
The same round moon For another chance
Why dont we share the same love And lets pray for the beautiful world
Tell me why not The beautiful world I share with you
Life is shorter than most have thought No matter how far I might be
Hold my hand Im always gonna be your neighbor
There are many ways to do it right Theres only one small planet where to
Hold my hand be
Turn around and see what we've left So Im always gonna be your neighbor
behind We cannot hide, we can't deny
Hold my hand my friend That were always gonna be neighbors
We can save the good spirit of me and Youre neighbor, my neighbor
you Were neighbors
For another chance So hold my hand
And lets pray for the beautiful world There are many ways to do it right
The beautiful world I share with you Hold my hand
Children seem like they've lost their Turn around and see what we've left
smile behind
On the new blooded playgrounds Hold my hand
Oh no There are many ways to do it right
How could we ignore , heartbreaking Hold my hand
crying sounds Turn around and see what we've left
And were still going on behind
Like nobody really cares Hold my hand my friend
And we just stopped feeling all the pain We can save the good spirit of me and
because you
Like its a daily basic affair For another chance
Now we share the same bright sun, And lets pray for the beautiful world
The same round moon The beautiful world I share with you
49
MY LITTLE GIRL
Data Pribadi :
Nama : Armawansyah
Tempat dan Tanggal Lahir : Jeriji, 14 Oktober 1990
Alamat : Jl. Raya Jeriji RT/RW 11/06 Desa Jeriji, Kecamatan
Toboali, Kab. Bangka Selatan, Bangka Belitung
Jenis Kelamin : Laki – laki
Status : Belum Kawin
Agama : Islam
Kewarganegaraan : Indonesia
Kontak Pribadi : 0878-7125-9151
Email : armawansyahasnawi@gmail.com
Berat Badan : 50 Kg
Tinggi Badan : 160 Cm
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