The narrative device linking “august,” “cardigan,” and “betty” on Taylor Swift’s Folklore is a love triangle. Each song explores the same fictional relationship from a different character’s viewpoint.
“august” follows the unnamed girl involved in a short summer romance with James. “cardigan” gives Betty’s perspective, while “betty” gives James’s perspective. The tracks are connected without needing to be heard as a conventional chronological story.
This structure helped Folklore stand out as an album built around imagined lives and character arcs. The songs are sometimes described as the “teenage love triangle” trilogy. The term does not mean that every song on Folklore belongs to the same plot; most of the album uses separate stories or perspectives.