EXPLORING FIGURES OF SPEECH IN THE LYRICS OF GHOST AND PALS

This study is conducted to analyze the phenomenon of figurative language and lexical semantic relations in song lyrics by using five selected songs from the experimental music group Ghost and Pals as the data source. This study aims: (1) to analyze the types of figures of speech used in the lyrics, and (2) to analyze how these figures are structured within lexical fields. This study uses the theory proposed by Dev et al. (2009) to categorize the figures of speech and the Lexical Field Theory proposed by Jost Trier (1931) to analyze the semantic relations. This study applies a qualitative descriptive method to describe and analyze the data from the songs “End-World Normopathy,” “Honey I’m Home,” “Pathological Facade,” “Reckless Battery Runs,” and “Chattering Lack of Common Sense”. The data were collected through textual observation and the identification of lyrical fragments containing figurative language. The results of this study show that nearly all categories of figures of speech are found in the selected lyrics. There are 98 total data instances of figures of speech, consisting of 27 instances of Association, 22 instances of Similarity, 17 instances of Utterance, 12 instances of Difference, 12 instances of Extension of Ideas, and 8 instances of Obliqueness. The most dominant type is Association. Lexically, these figures are mapped onto semantic relations of synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, and polysemic extension. These findings indicate that figurative language is used systematically to convey complex psychological themes and a mechanical atmosphere within the music, specifically through the dominant use of Association to mirror states of disconnection, along structured lexical fields of synonymy and antonymy that reinforce the songs’ narratives.