Analysis of The Used's 'In Love and Death' Album Cover As A Linguistic Sign.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Sampul album musik tentunya bukan hal yang asing atau sulit untuk dijumpai. Saat kita mengunjungi toko musik, kita akan menemukan berbagai jenis album musik. Tak jarang juga ketika kita melihat sebuah sampul album yang bagus, kita akan tertarik untuk melihat. Apalagi jika jenis musik yang terkandung di dalam album tersebut adalah jenis musik kesukaan kita, biasanya kita akan tertarik untuk membeli. Sangat disayangkan, kadang-kadang kita sebagai penggemar tidak tahu maksud yang terdapat dalam sampul album musik. Oleh karena itu, di dalam tugas akhir ini saya hendak mengkaji sebuah sampul album musik oleh The Used, di dalam album mereka yang kedua. Untuk para penggemar musik rock alternative, The Used sudah tidak asing. Selain itu sampul yang saya pilih cukup unik, yaitu dengan gambar hati yang meneteskan darah dan tergantung di pohon.

Dalam mengkaji sampul album musik tersebut, saya menggunakan teori semiotik (tanda bahasa) yang diformulasikan oleh Ferdinand de Saussure tentang sebuah kata dan gambar yang dinamakan sebagai signifier dan signified. Teori dari Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen tentang cara membaca sebuah gambar dapat membantu kita dalam menganalisis sebuah gambar atau tulisan berdasarkan posisi dan ukuran. Saya juga menggunakan pendekatan psikologi tentang depresi yang dapat mendukung kajian saya.

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Maranatha Christian University Setelah mengkaji sebuah sampul album musik, saya mendapati bahwa suatu gambar di dalam sampul album musik tidak semuanya dipilih secara sembarangan. Ada kalanya melalui sampul tersebut artis atau band ingin menyampaikan sebuah pesan.

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Maranatha Christian University

TABLE OF CONTENTS………... i

ABSTRACT……… ii

CHAPTER ONE 1.1. Background of the Study……….. 1

1.2. Statement of the Problem………. 4

1.3. Purpose of the Story………... 4

1.4. Method of Research……….. 4

1.5. Organization of the Thesis……… 4

CHAPTER TWO……… 6

CHAPTER THREE:

Analysis of The Used’s In Love And Death ... 11

As a Linguistic Sign CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION……… 23

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1 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

We use language every day to communicate with others. For some of us, we are not aware of the importance of language in our daily life. Language has meaning to us and it is really important for our communication. The explanations below will prove how important language is. According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary, the definitions of language are”1) system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of particular country, 2) a way of

expressing ideas and feelings using movements, symbols, and sound” (Hornby, 752). From the definition above we can conclude that language is the most significant thing for us to communicate as we can deliver our feelings and thoughts using language. Chandler supports this idea when he says “language is…the most powerful communication system by far” (Chandler 9). As communication grows, language can be represented through any media. The media that I would like to analyze in this thesis is an album cover. An album cover is included as the language used by the artists to convey their music or their feelings.

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2 Maranatha Christian University Generally, an album cover contains the band‟s or artist‟s name and the title of the music album. Another important thing in an album cover is the picture. The picture can have some important roles. First, it may be used by the artist to show his/her identity. For example, the artist may use his/her portrait. Second, it can show the identity of the music. When we see an album cover with girly stuff and hearts, the first thing that comes to our mind may be that this album contains love songs. An album cover can be used to determine what kind of music in it because we usually connect the picture on the album cover and the music in it. Third, an album cover sometimes is used by an artist to convey their feelings or their message to the fans. For example, the album cover may use a bloody picture or something dark, which shows us the gloomy feeling or broken heart, or we might say the picture wants to tell us about the broken hearted feeling. As I have observed in some music stores and websites, I find that rock music, moreover rock alternative (the sub-genre of rock), has different kinds of album covers if we compare them with other genres, for example, pop, R n‟ B, or jazz. The latter usually use the artists‟ portraits on their album covers, for the purpose that the fans will easily remember them. On the other hand, alternative rock genre has its different style to make the fans remember them. Almost all the alternative rock album covers use peculiar pictures. For example, on The Used‟s second album, in a normal life, it will be strange to tie a heart on a tree. I believe that by using a peculiar picture on an alternative rock album cover, the alternative rock fans may remember the music and the band or the artist.

The peculiar picture on an alternative rock album cover obviously has a meaning. The artist wants to present his/her ideas or feelings through it. He/she wants to give us a message. Sometimes, the artist does not present the feelings or the message explicitly through the pictures of the album cover.

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3 Maranatha Christian University As a result, the fans appreciate it only as a good artwork. They are not aware of what the artist wants to convey. Seeing a phenomenon like this, I would like to analyze the rock album covers by using semiotics. By doing the analysis, I hope that the readers will understand the importance of an album cover as a media used to convey the concept of the music or the message which the artist or the band wants to send. I believe this can be beneficial to make people aware that an album cover contains a message. I hope this can give an idea to readers that everything in our daily life is a sign and can stand for something else when analyzed semiotically.

In this thesis I am going to analyze The Used‟s second album cover. I choose this band, The Used, for it is one of the most popular bands in alternative

rock genre. The Used‟s album cover that I choose to analyze is the cover of The

Used‟s best album (www.last.fm).

An album cover is considered a linguistic sign because it stands for the message from the artist. An album cover is the „signifier‟ because it holds up the

artist or band‟s music aspirations. The title of the album, name of the band, and pictures on the album cover can also be considered to be signs as “… signs take

the form of words, images …” (Chandler 2).

I would like to use the semiotics theory to analyze the rock album cover. Semiotics is “...the study of sign…” (Chandler 1) and “…concerned with meaning

-making representation…” (Chandler 2) The semiotics applied is the structural semiotics, which was first formulated by the Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure. Beside I also use Kress and van Leeuwen‟s Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design as the supporting theory of my analysis.

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4 Maranatha Christian University 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In this thesis I would like to analyse the following problems:

1. What are the linguistic signs represented in The Used‟s album cover? 2. What do the linguistic signs signify?

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

In this thesis I intend:

1. to show what linguistic signs are represented in The Used‟s album cover.

2. to show what the linguistic signs signify.

1.4 METHOD OF RESEARCH

I began the research by searching for the theories of semiotics in the library. Next, I searched and selected some rock album covers. Then, I gained some more information in the Internet to support my analysis. I analyzed the rock album cover using semiotics theory. At last, I wrote my research report.

1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

This thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is the Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the Theoretical Framework, which consists of the elaboration of the semiotics theory that will be used to analyze the data. Next,

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5 Maranatha Christian University Chapter Three contains my analysis of the rock album covers. The conclusion and my personal opinion will be included in Chapter Four. This thesis ends with the Bibliography and Appendix.

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23 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

The last chapter of this paper contains the resume of the analysis and some concluding points. Based on the analysis in the previous chapter, there are two main concepts conveyed by the signifers in the album cover. First is the concept of love and the second one is the concept of life. The two concepts are related to create a message. Every signifier makes a great synergy to show both of the concepts

As we can see in the album cover, there are visual and verbal signifiers. The visual sign has two dominant signifiers, the picture of the heart and the picture of the tree. From the picture of the heart, what we can get is the interpretation of love. However, the concept of love that is portrayed in the cover is not a happy love. This is signified by the picture of the heart which is not in a good shape. Moreover, it drips blood in order to show that it is hurt, so that this signifier signifies a depressing situation of being in love that is a broken heart experience.

In addition, the picture of the heart can also signify the concept of life, as a heart is a human being's vital organ. In addition, the picture shows that the heart is tied to the tree branch with a rope as if it were committing suicide. This is

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24 Maranatha Christian University the condition of someone's trying to end his own life. The concept of life is also signified by the picture of the tree. In line with the concept of love, the concept of life that is depicted in the picture is not a happy life. The suicidal heart, the condition of the tree with withered and almost leafless branches show that the life is not a life worth-living. Furthermore, it is a depressing life, as those who are depressed often show suicidal wishes and even suicidal practices in their life.

Other visual signs that occur in the cover also convey the depressing situation. There is a hole in the tree which signifies a trauma in the past. The branches of the tree are moving downward. This also signifies a remembrance of the past. Thus, I can say that these signifiers are related to the concept of life as they deal with certain moments in life that a person cannot forget.

Another visual sign is the use of colours. There are three colours used in the picture, namely red, white and black. These three colours are also related to the concept of love and life. Red colour signifies love, white colour signifies the loss of desires in life, while the black colour signifies death or the loss of life.

The verbal sign in this cover occur in the text 'The Used' and 'In Love and Death'. 'The Used' here gives the identity of the album cover as the album of this band. Thus, it can signify that the cover contains things that are related to the band. Based on the interview done by MTV with the band, it is found out that the songs in this album were inspired by the tragic experience of the band's vocalist who lost his pregnant girlfriend. She died of doing overdose . (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1493746/20041115/used.jhtml) The phrase ‘in love and death’ also supports the concept of love and life. The concept of love is stated explicitly in the text, while the concept of life is stated by using a word which is the antonym of life, which is death. The use of the phrase supports the

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25 Maranatha Christian University information about the band. The phrase 'in love' shows the past life, which isthe love that occurs between the vocalist and his pregnant girlfriend. The word 'death' signifies their separation. The contradiction in 'in love and death' also strengthens the tragic moment of love. Moreover, the thoughts of love - in this case a love which is full of regrets - and death are the symptoms of depression.

Judging from the relation between the signifers and the signified in the cover, I conclude that the cover depicts a love life which is sad and it leads to depression. Thus I can say that the sign system in this cover leads us to one idea that is the state of depression. Based on the sign system, I think the message that the band wants to convey is a reminder that an unhappy love life can make a person depressed because the past love-life memories cannot be easily forgotten.

To find out about the symptoms of depression, the analysis of the cover has to be related to the theories of psychology. Thus, it is clear that the study of semiotics cannot stand on its own. It has to be interrelated with other subjects as the study of signs is very wide. Signs can be about anything and can convey any idea. This is also useful to make the interpretation of the signs have proper grounds, namely theories from other fields of study.

For further researches, I may recommend other album covers of The Used to be analyzed. If we pay attention to their album covers, they always use abstract pictures. By using this kind of drawing patterns, the band may convey something to us. In doing this research, the study of their background is also necessary. Their hometown Utah may relate to the pattern, as Utah is an area with its poverty and homelessness. This kind of area may influence the kind of drawing they have. Therefore, a research of the complete album covers of the

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26 Maranatha Christian University band can will be very interesting and challenging as it reveal whether the band always has the same representation or not. Moreover

, t

he next researches of semiotics can also be widened to the art design area, specifically to the graphic theory.

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27 Maranatha Christian University

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Burns, R.C. Kinetic-House-Tree-Person Drawings (K-H-T-P) An Interpretative Manual. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 1987.

Brown, D. Steven, and Robert W. Lent. Handbook of Counseling

Psychology.Second Edition. Canada: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1992.

Chandler, D. Semiotics: the Basics. London: Routledge, 2004.

Colin, D. Dictionary of Symbols, Myths and Legends. London: Hachette Illustrated, 2000.

Cooper, J.C. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1978.

Corbett, J. An Intercultural Approach to English Language Teaching. Philippines: Anvil Publishing. Inc, 2007.

Kress,G. and van Leeuwen,T. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge, 1996.

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28 Maranatha Christian University Maramis, W.F. Ilmu Kedokteran Jiwa. Surabaya: Airlangga University Press, 1980.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2000.

Sarason., Irwin G and Barbara R. Abnormal Psychology. New Jersey: Prentice

Hall Inc, 1972.

Saussure, F. d. Course in General Linguistics. Trans. Wade Baskin. New York: Philosophical Library, 1959.

Websites

artistdirect.com. 2009. The Used. 22 March 2009 <http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/used/1710136>.

mtv.com.2010. In Love and Death’s tragedy. 05 Juni 2010

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23 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

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24 Maranatha Christian University the condition of someone's trying to end his own life. The concept of life is also signified by the picture of the tree. In line with the concept of love, the concept of life that is depicted in the picture is not a happy life. The suicidal heart, the condition of the tree with withered and almost leafless branches show that the life is not a life worth-living. Furthermore, it is a depressing life, as those who are depressed often show suicidal wishes and even suicidal practices in their life.

(http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1493746/20041115/used.jhtml) The phrase ‘in love and death’ also supports the concept of love and life. The concept of love is stated explicitly in the text, while the concept of life is stated by using a word which is the antonym of life, which is death. The use of the phrase supports the

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25 Maranatha Christian University information about the band. The phrase 'in love' shows the past life, which isthe love that occurs between the vocalist and his pregnant girlfriend. The word 'death' signifies their separation. The contradiction in 'in love and death' also strengthens the tragic moment of love. Moreover, the thoughts of love - in this case a love which is full of regrets - and death are the symptoms of depression.

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26 Maranatha Christian University band can will be very interesting and challenging as it reveal whether the band always has the same representation or not. Moreover, the next researches of semiotics can also be widened to the art design area, specifically to the graphic theory.