Taylor Swift’s “cardigan” pairs with “august” and “betty” to tell Folklore’s love triangle.
The three songs present related events through different viewpoints. “cardigan” is associated with Betty, “betty” is told from James’s perspective, and “august” follows the unnamed young woman involved in the summer romance. Together, they create one of Folklore’s most discussed narrative threads.
Swift used fictional characters and imagined story arcs throughout Folklore. The connected songs are not presented as a literal autobiographical account, even though listeners often analyze their details as if they were clues to real relationships.
A common confusion is choosing “willow,” another Swift song about a relationship. “willow” belongs to Evermore and was performed with “cardigan” and “august” at the 2021 Grammys, but it is not one of the three Folklore love-triangle songs.