Which fictional-story trilogy includes Taylor Swift’s “august,” “cardigan,” and “betty”?

Taylor Swift’s “august,” “cardigan,” and “betty” form Folklore’s fictional teenage love triangle.

Swift described the three songs as telling connected parts of one story from different perspectives. “cardigan” is associated with Betty, “betty” presents James’s viewpoint, and “august” is sung from the perspective of the unnamed girl involved with James during the summer.

The story is fictional rather than a direct account of Swift’s own teenage life. That distinction is important because listeners sometimes try to identify real people behind every character. Swift instead used imagined names, settings, and emotional situations to create a self-contained narrative.

The trilogy also explains why “august” is more than a generic song about the calendar month. Its month-based title reflects the temporary summer affair at the center of the narrator’s memories. The three-song structure became one of Folklore’s most discussed storytelling devices.