operate mainly on archetypal qualifier which tends to be general and easy to understand. The source of their metaphoric expressions are love stories, nature,
social life and somehow mystic and spiritual in a certain way. However as the writer assumes, The Black Brothers’ metaphors can be summed up into two main
categories: romantic grounded love stories, nature and Papuan grounded native’s language, geographical and physical reference.
2.2.1. Romantic Grounded Metaphors
The Black Brothers is a romantic band in a real sense. As one can see in table of the dominant theme in their songs table 6 in appendix 1, romantic love
song category has the highest percentage. This is to prove the claim by most of their audience that The Black Brothers is a melancholic pop band. However,
romanticism does not only deal with the subject of love, the writer could see more than that. Based on the history of the Romantic Movement in Europe, the early
association with romanticism in mid eighteen century is natural exotism, adventure, terror, and mysticism. Romantic’s taste favors simplicity and
naturalness.
38
The early spirit of romanticism is to go back to nature and against rationalization by the enlightenment period. Romantic writers tend to value more
on tender sentiment of affection, sorrow, and longing. However out of all emotions celebrated by romanticism, love is the most popular. Despite the fact
that great romantic works deal on terror or rage, the motive behind this passion is mostly a relationship between a pair of lovers. In the classical world love had
been more or less associated with sex. Love used to be viewed as natural
38
Brown, Marshall. The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, Volume 5, Romanticism. Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 92.
birthright by the romantics. The shifting in thinking allows love to be equated to romance that the two are now generally viewed as synonymous.
The Black Brothers have almost these qualities to be considered as romantic. The writer can see that their songs consist of love stories, the exoticism
of nature, mysticism, and social criticism. Their love songs are mainly dominated with sorrow, tearful sentimental wallowing in the longings of the heart and
disappointments. The songs in this category are as follows: Terjalin Kembali Getting Back Together, Balada Dua Remaja The Ballads of Two Teenagers,
Putus Ditengah Kerinduan Losing You In The Middle of Deep Longing,
Kisah Seorang Pramuria Story of a Prostitute, Derita Tiada Akhir Endless
Sufferings, Hilang Gone, Keroncong Kenangan Song of Memory, Doa Pramuria
The Prostitutes Prayer, Melati Di Tanah Gersang Jasmine on the Barren Land, Sahabatku Angie My best friend Angie, Tragedy Awal
Agustus Tragedy on Early August, Gadis Lembah Sunyi The Girl from the
Lonely Valley, Kenangan November November Memory, Tiada Senyum Diakhir Senja
No Smile When Dusk Ends Untukmu Pramuria To you, O Prostitute, Layu Diujung Senja Wilted at the End of Twilight, Balada
Pramuria Ballads of Prostitute, Lagu Yang Terpotong The Unfinished Song,
Gerimis Dihati Gersang Drizzle on a Dry Heart, and Hening Silence. The
pitiful circumstance of love is summoned to reinforce the emotions through metaphoric expression. Love is viewed as a fragile object that can easily break. In
Balada Dua Remaja The Black Brothers sing Kisah cinta hancur berderai
our love story falls apart and in Hilang they sing Bunga di hati layu sudah berguguran daun-daunnya
flower in my heart goes whithered the leaves are
falling down. Love is full of pain and loneliness in the circumstances of being cheated or left alone. This typical situation can be found in most of the lyrics of
the songs above. In Hilang they sing Kini ku sendiri lagi melangkah dalam kepedihan tiada penghibur hati tertelan dalam kesunyian Now I’m all alone
walking with the pain no one to call on to being swollen into loneliness. In Keroncong Kenangan
they sing Kini kusendiri mengenangkan semua kisah indah bersamamu Now I’m alone reminiscing all wonderful stories with you.
In Melati Di Tanah Gersang they sing Di wajahnya terukir goresan kesedihan upon her face etched scratches of grief. In Gadis Di Lembah Sunyi they sing
Kini ku sendiri tiada menemani gadis di lembah sunyi Now I’m on my own with no company the girl in the valley of silence. In Tiada Senyum Diakhir
senja they sing Hanyalah kesepian yang menemani di hati bersama bayangan
yang terlukis menyiksa diri only loneliness is the company to my heart with the
shadow painted torturing myself. In Untukmu Pramuria again they sing Hidupku dalam dunia ini penuh dengan derita
My life in this world is full of sorrow and pain. In Hening they sing Hari-ke hari sunyi yang menemani
loneliness is my friend from day after day. In Terjalin Kembali they sing Hanya titik air mata mengiring mu pada dia yang pertama menyentuh
hatimu only a tear drop can lead you back to him who firstly touch your heart.
In Hilang they sing Kini ku sendiri lagi melangkah dalam kepedihan Now I’m all alone walking with the pain. In Gerimis Di Hati Gersang they sing Di
simpang jalan ku menatapmu berlalu bersama kasihmu In the crossroads I saw
you passed by with your lover. Jochie Patipeluhu as The Black Brothers golden ink who wrote almost all
the lyrics is known to be very poetic. All of these pitiful love experiences are made beautiful and moving by infusing the imagery devices mainly metaphor and
personification. This can be seen in lines such as Bunga di hati layu sudah the flower in my heart goes whithered, Di wajahnya terukir goresan kesedihan on
her face theres a scarce of pain, Terkenang sekeping hati terluka sudah dalam danau air mata bagai sekuntum melati sayup melambai di tanah gersang selalu
gelisah remembering a broken heart in the lake of tearslike a jasmine waving
byupon a barren land always uneasy malam hampir merapat pagi sinar lembut menyentuh telaga unggas membisik nada sendu
night almost comes to dawn shines gently touch the pondbirds singing blues biduk tua yang membisu an
old silent boat. These emotional expressions clearly seem to be exaggerated or artificial but they could possibly build out of real individual experience that was
genuine. Different from enlightenment period which favored reasoning and
rationality, romanticism like its early spirit strengthen the hold of religion and mysticism. Though not explicitly seen, The Black Brothers songs are built up out
of spirituality. As an example we can see the songs about prostitute that Hengky, the lead vocal, wrote. Here implicitly Hengky inserts a biblical allusion in the way
a prostitute should be treated. For him a prostitute deserves to be honored and loved and that we are all sinners and do not have right to judge others. This
attitude can be seen in the lyrics of songs such as Kisah Seorang Pramuria Story of a prostitute, Cinta dan Pramuria Love and a prostitute, Doa
Pramuria The prostitutes prayer, Untukmu Pramuria To you, O prostitute,
Balada Pramuria ballads of prostitute and Pramuria Tapi Biarawati
prostitute yet a nun. There are several biblical allusion that can be found in those songs: First,
an allusion to John 8:7 in which Jesus Himself when asked by the scribes and Pharisees about a woman taken in adultery who about to be stoned, he calmly
responded “He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.” Second, an allusion to Luke 7:36-50 where a prostitute came to Jesus and washed his feet
with her tears, wiped them with her hair and kissed and anointed them with ointment. Jesus then forgave her sins. It is in this effort and attitude that Hengky
puts in his song Doa Pramuria the prostitutes prayer where he inserted a prayer of a prostitute Oh Tuhan Engkau Maha Pengasih Engkau Maha
Penyayang Kiranya Engkau mau datang dengan kemurahan tanganMu mengampuni semua dosa-dosaku kuserahkan sisa hidupku didalam tanganMu
saja Oh Tuhanku amin O merciful and loving God I hope you would come with your gratefulness hands to forgive all my sins into your hands I give the rest
of my life O my Lord amen. Another example of biblical allusion is also depicted in “Hari Kiamat”
The End of the Day about the condemnation and the doom of the evil doers. The believe of judgement day is deeply based on the spiritual level. The main tenet of
Christianity and some other religions is that our present attitudes and deeds will decide our fate in the next life. In this song, The Black Brothers depicts the real
situation of the poor and demands an action by the rich otherwise they will have a serious consequence. The real situation is the poor keep begging for sympathy
from the ignorant rich. The demand of an action is that they shall help the poor. The biblical allusion is based on Matthew 25: 31- 46 about the judgement day. In
verses 40-43 it is said: “And the King will answer and say to them, Assurdly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it
to Me. Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was
hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in
prison and you did not visit Me.” Those who help the poor are actually do it for God, and that He will recognice them as the chosen ones who will survive His
rage at the judgement day. Another biblical allusion to the song is on Luke 10:25-36 about the good
Samaritan. Here lie the basic teachings of Jesus when He said in verses 27 and 28: “You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And He said to him, You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
2.2.2. Papua Grounded Metaphor
