8. Clocks
You’re home where I
wanted to go home
a person as permanent
destination American
Heritage Dictionary
of the English
Language 2011
9. Sparks
My heart is yours
heart emotional
term where love
belongs The Penguin
Dictionary of Symbols
1982
10. Christmas Lights
Tears, we cried a flood
flood tears in huge
amount Oxford
Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary 2010
11. Christmas Lights
Got all kinds of poison in
my blood poison in
my blood feeling
sadness all over the body
Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary
2010
12. Yes Yeah, we
were dying of frustration
dying of frustration
surrender from the
sadness Oxford
Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary 2010
13. Miracles I blossom
and die blossom
happy Oxford
Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary 2010
14. Us Against the World
In my heart, she left a
hole hole
emptiness Oxford
Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary 2010
B. The Meaning of the Metaphoric Expressions
As what have been analyzed in the previous part, two classifications of metaphors, dead metaphor and live metaphor certainly have roles in
determining the metaphorical meaning of metaphoric expression. Dead
metaphors which already has fixed expressions as idioms, directly gives fixed metaphorical meaning in the metaphoric expressions.
1. Coldplay’s Till Kingdom Comes - For you, I’d wait till kingdom comes
This song tells about a man who finds a love which he has been waited for so long. He thinks that this woman has everything that he has
been looking for so long and finally she completes him. He falls in love with her and he is willing to wait for this kind of woman forever.
As what has been classified in the types of metaphor, this metaphoric expression is an example of dead metaphor which uses common figurative
expression called idiom. According to McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs 2002
, ‘Till kingdom comes’ is an example of famous idioms which means forever or until the end of the
world. The expression is existed in Christian prayer which means let the God’s role be done and then the world comes to an end. His words to
them, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power Mark 9:1
The word “kingdom” from Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 2010 means that a country which is ruled by a king or a queen. It also
says that kingdom is an area controlled by a particular person or idea. Lexically, the meaning of phrase “till kingdom comes” when the country
rulled by king and queen comes. Although lexically ‘till kingdom comes’ does not have any relation
to the end of the world, it does not become the main point for the listeners
to analyse how the metaphoric expression is related to the metaporical meaning. As long as the idiom is a common-heard, the listeners directly
know the meaning of the expression. So, from the Co
ldplay’s song lyric ‘For you, I’d wait till kingdom comes’ means the person is willing to wait for someone until the end of
the world or forever. Unfortunately, human’s existence is limited by the
age, so the meaning of the expression in the lyrics becomes the person who waits until he dies.
a. Lexical meaning:
Till kingdom comes till the end of the world
Signifier Signified
b. Metaphorical meaning:
Till kingdom comes
Till the end of the world Till the end of
someone’s life c.
Semantic properties of ‘Till kingdom comes’: - physical
Lexical= + forever
+ waiting + physical
Metaphorical= + forever
+ waiting
