Lesson 9 — Activity 1:

Literal and Figurative Language in Music



People love music! Music is found all around the world!

What kind of music do you enjoy? Do you have a favourite song right now? Do you follow the career of anyone in the music industry or a particular band? What draws you to the style of music you listen to? Perhaps it is the lyrics, the instruments, the musicians, or the songwriters. Maybe it's the producers or graphic artists who design the cover shots.


Courtesy of Pixabay
Have you ever thought about the stories and messages that are communicated through the songs you like? When artists begin writing songs, they may start with a tune and then write the musical notes. At other times, artists might begin with an idea or the words and then create the music to go with the words. Many times, more than one person is involved in writing the lyrics and the music.



"Whisper words of wisdom, let it be"

The Beattles



For this activity you will focus on the words. Words found in music are called lyrics. Song lyrics are really poems put to music. So, if you like music, you really do like poetry! Lyrics are generally poems that are called free verse, which means they do not follow any rules like haikus, limericks, sonnets, or diamante poems do. You have probably heard about these and other fixed form poetry styles before. Free verse poetry is what song writing is all about!

When you are looking for the message or meaning in a song or parts of a song, you must read the words carefully, one at a time. By doing this, you can determine if the message is literal or figurative.


Figurative Language

  1. Metaphor - a comparison that does not include the words like or as
  2. Simile - a comparison that includes the words like or as
  3. Hyperbole - extreme exaggeration used to make a point
  4. Personification - the act of giving human qualities to animals or inanimate objects
  5. Idiom - an expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of its individual words
  6. Onomatopoeia - a word whose sound suggests its meaning
  7. Understatement - a statement that is weakened to convey a stronger meaning
  8. Alliteration - the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words
  9. Imagery - vivid description that includes details that appeal to the senses
  10. Cliché - an expression or phrase used so often it becomes stale and loses meaning
  11. Symbol - an object that stands for an idea

Digging Deeper!

Click the Play button below to listen to how figurative language is used in popular music!