In Taylor Swift’s “august” love triangle, the narrator is trying to be with James.
The song is told from the viewpoint of an unnamed girl who has a brief summer romance with James. She hopes the relationship might become permanent, but James is already connected to Betty and eventually returns to her.
Swift created the story as fiction rather than a direct account of her personal life. The unnamed narrator is sometimes informally called Augusta or Augustine, but neither name is stated in the song itself or officially assigned as her name.
The narrative connects three Folklore tracks: “cardigan” presents Betty’s perspective, “betty” presents James’s perspective, and “august” presents the perspective of the other girl. Together, the songs show different views of the same teenage relationship.