In Taylor Swift’s “august” love triangle, the narrator’s summer love is James.
The song is one part of a three-song narrative on Folklore. “Cardigan” presents Betty’s perspective, “Betty” presents James’s perspective, and “august” follows an unnamed girl involved with James during the summer.
James is already connected to Betty, so the relationship in “august” is temporary and emotionally uneven. When summer ends, James returns to Betty, leaving the narrator to reflect on a romance she hoped might become permanent.
Listeners sometimes call the narrator Augustine or Augusta, but Swift said she had not formally given the character a name. Those labels describe how Swift imagined the character, whereas James is the explicitly named love interest in the song’s fictional storyline.