Music as Propaganda for Humanitarian Diplomacy: Semiotic Analysis of Ferdinand de Saussure in The Song We Are The World

Abstract

In this paper, the author will examine one of the songs with the most phenomenal theme of humanity, entitled We Are The World. In the making, this song was created as a charity song initiated by the USA for Africa which aims to raise funds for the prevention of hunger in the African region, precisely in Ethiopia. This is because Ethiopia is experiencing political instability and drought from 1984-1985. In this study, the author uses Ferdinand de Saussure's semiotic analysis to see the message of meaning contained in each of the lyrics. For the research methodology, the author uses a qualitative method to review this paper. Then the author also uses the concept of humanity as the basis of the research argument, the concept of love by Mahatma Gandhi and M. Said Ramadhan Al Buthi in their interpretation of Ali Imron verse 14 and uses propaganda theory to see the role of this song implies the value of humanity. Sources of data were obtained through literature review from Scopus and Google Scholar journal documents with the NVivo 12 Plus application as a lyric analysis tool. The findings resulting from this study are that with the song, moral and humanitarian messages can be conveyed well to the public by upholding universal ethical values towards humanity. It is proven that the song We Are The World always gets more enthusiasm in the community by always being commemorated on the date of its creation, and from the recording royalties it is allocated for charity activities. It is believed by the author as a parameter for the success of the song We Are The World to get more sympathy and become a symbolic song for human things.