Taylor Swift tells the Betty-James-“august” narrator love triangle across three connected Folklore songs.
The songs are “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty.” Each approaches the fictional relationship from a different angle: Betty’s perspective appears in “cardigan,” the unnamed summer-romance narrator speaks in “august,” and James narrates “betty.” The arrangement lets the album examine memory, betrayal, regret, and reconciliation without presenting only one character’s version.
The trilogy is often called the Folklore love triangle, but the tracks are not a formally titled suite or a separate three-song EP. They are individual songs linked by characters and narrative details. “august” was the first of the three that Swift wrote, even though the songs can be discussed in different narrative orders.