Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan” gives Betty’s perspective in the storyline shared with “August.”
The three connected Folklore songs portray a love triangle from different viewpoints. “August” follows the unnamed girl involved in a brief summer romance with James, “Betty” presents James’s perspective, and “Cardigan” centers on Betty’s experience.
The songs are linked by recurring characters and events rather than by a single continuous musical form. Swift wrote them as fictional narratives, using imagined lives to explore youth, regret, betrayal, longing, and reconciliation. That fictional framing is an important distinction from songs that listeners interpret primarily as autobiographical.
A frequent mix-up is treating “Betty” as Betty’s viewpoint because it carries her name. In fact, “Betty” is narrated by James, while “Cardigan” is the song associated with Betty. “August” completes the triangle from the perspective of the girl whose summer relationship with James does not last.