A Million Dreams - Song Analysis

Introduction    

        I'm Ghina Julianna Atikah and welcome to my blog. Actually, it is not the first time I've written on a blog, when I just entered college there was an assignment that required us to upload something on the blog. After the task is finished I never touch my blog again, but it turns out I have to write again with my blog. There was an assignment that asked us to analyze a song. That's an assignment for the Introduction to Literature course and the lecturer is ma'am Irene (Hi, ma'am, if you're reading this :D). So, I thought for a long time what song I should analyze and finally I decided to analyze the song called "A Million Dreams - The Greatest Showman". Who doesn't know the greatest showman movie? If you haven't watched it yet, watch it now! Okay back again, let's analyze one of the soundtracks from this film entitled "A Million Dreams".

About the Song

        "A Million Dreams" is a song written by  Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and performed by Ziv Zaifman, Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams for the film The Greatest Showman on December 8, 2017. It is the second track from the soundtrack of the film, The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, released in the same year.

        The greatest showman movie has a lot of great original soundtracks. Each song has a different story. A Million Dreams conveys a theme of exploration. The subject of this song is about a person who have strong ambition to change the “world”. It tells the story of young Barnum (Ziv Zaifman) and his future wife Charity (Michelle Williams). He tells her about his dreams for the future and explains his confidence that working hard will make the dreams come true. The singer is fantasizing about a reality that is different from the one she lives in. When others become aware of this, they react by questioning her sanity. However, this fantasy is fueled by a desire to make people “smile” and makes the conjurer happy in imaging it. Indeed it has become an inescapable part of her nightly experience. Ultimately she invites others to partake of this dream with her. The composer wanted to show a couple things. One of many is Barnum, who is a flame of a dreamer, always has a vision he always wants life to be larger and more colorful than it was. The composer also wanted to show that vision is the thing running through the character from when he was a kid to an adult.

Social Function

The core song of A Million Dreams communicates us to instill the sense of social change we seek through our actions and shape the way people think and feel about our problems.

Song Analysis

        From the picture, we can see that one lyric has more than one figurative language. Figurative language refers to the use of words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning to convey a complicated meaning, colorful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison. I will not explain all of the lyrics one by one, but I will explain each lyric using a different figurative language. For the first lyrics, "I close my eyes and I can see the world that's waiting up for me that I call my own", using imagery, personification, and symbols. These lyrics are said to be imagery because from the lyrics the writer can describe that when he closes his eyes he can see the world, from there we can already imagine it. Next is personification that can be seen from the use of the word "the world is waiting", the word "world" is an inanimate object but is made as if it is waiting which is a human quality. Last, the symbol can be seen from the word “world” does not mean the Earth with its continents, countries, or other demo-graphic stuff; but it refers to a different meaning which can be interpreted to symbolize the songwriters' future life that they have been waiting excitedly for. In another viewpoint, the word “world” is used to depict a colorful, larger, challenging, excited, and distinctive life ahead. Second, there are 3 lyrics that I put together because they both use hyperbole. "A million dreams" is a hyperbole figurative language because the words are an extravagant or intentional exaggeration. The third lyric that I will explain is "Through the dark, through the door, through where no one's been before but it feels like home", the lyrics use imagery, hyperbole, symbol, and simile figurative language. It is categorized as a simile because the lyrics use the word "like", which is a connection word to compare two separate concepts. Next, the lyrics of "I think of what the world could be a vision of the one I see" use imagery, metaphor, and symbol. Last, the lyric "They can say, they can say that we have lost our minds" use idioms figurative language, in the word I underline have an idiomatic meaning that the author feels he has gone mad or mentally unwell; to become extremely foolish or foolhardy.

Repetition

• Through the dark, through the door, Through where no one's been before
• They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy
• They can say, they can say I’ve lost my mind
• I don’t care, I don’t care so call me crazy
• However big, however small, let me be part of it all
• You may be right, you may be wrong but say that

Conclusion

        In conclusion, the song a million dreams is very good From this song we can learn about figurative languages ​​because each lyric contains figurative languages ​​such as imagery, personifications, symbols, idioms, hyperboles, repetitions, similes, and metaphors. It also has a very deep meaning that teaches us to always keep and follow our dreams and never give up in facing life because efforts will not betray the results. Don't pay attention to what people are criticizing without providing a solution, let them say whatever they want. We have to believe that dreams will come true as long as we fight for them.