James is the romantic interest of the narrator in Taylor Swift’s “august.”
The narrator describes a brief summer romance with James, who is already connected to Betty. When the summer ends, James returns to Betty, leaving the narrator to realize that the relationship was never truly hers to keep.
“august” is one part of Folklore’s three-song love-triangle narrative. The song presents the unnamed girl’s perspective, “Cardigan” follows Betty’s perspective, and “Betty” presents James’s perspective.
Swift created the characters as fictional figures rather than direct portraits of real people. The narrator herself is never explicitly named in the song; Swift said she imagined names such as Augusta or Augustine, but those are not established names in the lyrics.