Taylor Swift’s “betty” is the Folklore song told from James’s perspective alongside “august.”
The three connected songs are “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty.” “cardigan” presents Betty’s perspective, “august” presents the viewpoint of the unnamed summer-romance character, and “betty” follows James as he reflects on his actions and seeks reconciliation.
This structure is often called folklore’s teenage love triangle. The songs do not form a conventional chronological narrative with every detail explained; instead, they offer overlapping memories and emotions from different characters. That ambiguity is central to the album’s fictional storytelling approach.
A common mix-up is assigning “cardigan” to James because it shares imagery and characters with “betty.” In the song’s established narrative framing, however, “betty” is James’s song and “cardigan” is Betty’s.