The Representation of Unconscious Feelings and Regret in Passenger’s “Let Her Go”: A Psychoanalytic Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29303/kopula.v8i2.10586Keywords:
Psychoanalysis; Regret; Song Lyrics; Symbolism; Unconscious FeelingsAbstract
Popular songs frequently reflect complex psychological conditions of human beings, yet linguistic studies on the representation of unconscious feelings in song lyrics remain limited. This study aims to analyze the representation of unconscious feelings and regret in the song “Let Her Go” by Passenger through Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. A qualitative descriptive method was applied, with the lyrics of “Let Her Go” serving as the primary data source, analyzed using Freud’s psychoanalytic concepts including unconscious feelings, repression, and emotional conflict. The findings reveal that the lyrical narrator experiences delayed emotional realization, in which love is fully understood only after separation occurs; symbolic imagery such as darkness, light, coldness, and loneliness further reinforces the representation of psychological suffering. This study concludes that song lyrics can function as a psychological representation of human regret and self-awareness, contributing to the field of psychoanalytic literary criticism, particularly in the analysis of popular music lyrics
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