THE PRICE OF EMPATHY IN LYRICS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF HINDIA’S SONG ‘HARGA SATU PIL’
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This study analyzes Hindia’s song “Harga Satu Pil” through Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to uncover how its lyrics articulate social anxiety surrounding mental health, inequality, and declining empathy. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the analysis focuses on Fairclough’s three dimensions while maintaining attention to textual detail. The lyrics reveal sharp rhetorical strategies such as the metaphor “harga satu pil lebih murah dari empati” which not only question the value society assigns to mental well-being but also expose contradictions in the nation’s moral ideals. These linguistic choices invite listeners to reflect on the distance between proclaimed social values and lived realities. The discursive practice of the song shows how audiences actively circulate, reinterpret, and internalize these critiques through digital and cultural spaces. At the level of social practice, the song operates as a form of cultural intervention, encouraging public awareness and subtly challenging systems that marginalize vulnerable groups. Overall, “Harga Satu Pil” demonstrates how contemporary music can function as both social critique and a catalyst for collective consciousness.
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