James is the 17-year-old boy at the center of Taylor Swift’s “august” storyline.
The song is narrated by an unnamed girl who experiences a brief summer romance with James. She develops strong feelings, but James ultimately leaves and returns to his former lover, Betty. The narrative is fictional rather than a direct account of Swift’s personal life.
James, Betty, and the unnamed narrator form Folklore’s “teenage love triangle.” “Cardigan” is associated with Betty’s perspective, while “Betty” presents James’s perspective. “august” completes the triangle by focusing on the person involved with James during the summer.
Listeners sometimes call the narrator Augustine or Augusta because Swift used those names when discussing the character. However, James is the clearly named male character in the song’s story. Betty is James’s former lover, not the narrator of “august.”