Which character’s perspective is used in Taylor Swift’s “august”?

Taylor Swift’s “august” uses the perspective of the unnamed summer girl.

The narrator is a teenage girl who becomes involved with James during a brief summer romance. James is already connected to Betty, so the song presents the emotional experience of the other girl in the triangle rather than Betty’s or James’s viewpoint.

Swift’s Folklore storyline connects “august” with “Cardigan” and “Betty.” “Cardigan” is associated with Betty, while “Betty” presents James’s perspective. Together, the three songs describe overlapping versions of a fictional adolescent relationship.

The narrator in “august” is not given a definite name in the lyrics or on the album’s standard credits. Swift discussed imagining names such as Augustine or Augusta, but those are interpretive labels rather than a firmly established canonical character name. That is why “the unnamed summer girl” is more precise than either proposed name.