In Taylor Swift’s “august,” Betty’s former boyfriend is named James.
James is one point of the fictional love triangle connecting “august,” “cardigan,” and “betty” on Folklore. In “august,” the unnamed narrator describes a summer romance with James while knowing that he is already connected to Betty. The relationship ends when James returns to Betty.
The songs present the story from different perspectives. “cardigan” centers on Betty, “betty” gives James a direct narrative voice, and “august” follows the girl involved in the brief summer relationship. Swift created these characters as imagined figures rather than straightforward autobiographical portraits.
A common confusion concerns the narrator of “august,” whom Swift privately imagined as “Augusta” or “Augustine.” That is not James’s name and is not the official name of the narrator. James is the male character whose relationship with Betty and the unnamed narrator links the three songs.