Three Folklore songs form Taylor Swift's love-triangle set with “august.”
The connected songs are “Cardigan,” “august,” and “Betty.” Each presents a different perspective on the fictional relationship involving Betty, James, and the unnamed narrator of “August.”
“Cardigan” is associated with Betty's perspective, “Betty” with James's perspective, and “August” with the girl who has a summer romance with James. James is already involved with Betty, so the three songs overlap in time and character while emphasizing different emotions.
The set is fictional rather than a direct account of Swift's own life. Swift described Folklore as a project built around imagined narratives, story arcs, and characters. That framing is why listeners should not assume that the narrator of “August” is a publicly identified person from Swift's biography.