Taylor Swift’s “cardigan” forms the Betty perspective of the story connected to “august.”
Swift designed “august,” “cardigan,” and “betty” as a fictional trilogy on Folklore. “cardigan” follows Betty’s perspective, “betty” follows James’s perspective, and “august” follows the unnamed girl involved in James’s summer romance.
The three songs do not present a simple chronological retelling. Instead, they revisit related events through different voices, allowing listeners to compare memory, regret, hope, and misunderstanding. This multi-perspective structure became one of Folklore’s most discussed songwriting concepts.
The song titles can create confusion because “betty” seems like the obvious Betty-centered track. However, “cardigan” is the track generally identified with Betty’s viewpoint, while “betty” is the James-centered account of the same fictional relationship.