Taylor Swift gives the boy in the fictional story behind “august” the name James.
James is the teenage boy at the center of the Folklore love triangle. He has a summer romance with the narrator of “august” while ultimately returning to Betty, his former lover. His perspective appears in the song “betty,” while Betty’s perspective appears in “cardigan.”
Swift created the story as fictional character work rather than presenting it as a direct account of her own life. The characters’ names and overlapping details are spread across the three songs, inviting listeners to reconstruct the relationships.
Another common confusion involves Augustine or Augusta. Swift said she imagined possible names for the narrator of “august,” but the song never explicitly names that character. James, by contrast, is clearly identified elsewhere in the connected Folklore narrative.