Taylor Swift's "cardigan" completes the Folklore love-triangle narrative from Betty's perspective alongside "august" and "betty."
The three songs tell related parts of a fictional teenage story. "august" centers on Augustine, who has a summer romance with James; "betty" is associated with James; and "cardigan" presents Betty's perspective.
This structure helped make Folklore feel like a collection of connected short stories rather than a conventional autobiographical pop album. Swift used recurring names and events, but she did not present the characters as a direct account of her own life.
A frequent error is calling the trilogy a three-song collaboration. All three songs are performed by Swift, and they appear on the same album. The connection is narrative, not a shared vocal performance.