Taylor Swift’s song “betty” completes the James-Betty-August story alongside “cardigan” and “august.”
Folklore contains three connected songs that revisit a fictional teenage love triangle from different perspectives. “cardigan” is linked to Betty, “august” follows the unnamed girl involved in a summer affair, and “betty” gives James a chance to address the consequences of his actions.
This structure is one of the album’s most discussed features. Swift described the characters and events as part of a fictionalized narrative rather than a direct account of her own life. The trilogy demonstrates how one event can be reframed through memory, regret, longing, and incomplete information.
A frequent mistake is choosing “illicit affairs,” another Folklore track with a relationship theme. It is not part of the James-Betty-August trilogy. The correct companion song is “betty,” whose title names the character James addresses in the song.