A Comparative Study of the Similarities Between the Music Album "Red (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift and the "Bluets" by Maggie Nelson Through a Symbolic Approach

Songs serve as an effective medium for individuals to connect with their personal experiences, with lyrics playing a pivotal role in enabling emotional release and catharsis. The lyrics evoke memories, inspire reflection, and offer a sense of companionship, thus functioning as powerful tools for emotional expression. This research paper conducts a comparative analysis of Maggie Nelson’s Bluets and Taylor Swift’s music album Red (Taylor’s Version) through a symbolic lens. Bluets, composed of 240 prose-poetic fragments, blends memoir and lyrical essays to meditate on the color blue, reflecting on love, loss, and grief themes. In contrast, Red (Taylor’s Version), released in 2021, revisits and expands upon Swift’s 2012 album Red, focusing on themes of love, personal growth, and heartbreak symbolized through the color red. Using a symbolic approach, this paper explores how color symbolism portrays the inner turmoil of the lyrical essayist and the songwriter. It also examines both works’ thematic depth and figurative writing styles, particularly the use of ambiguity. This study is supported by existing research associating colors metaphorically with emotional states.