Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan” tells Betty’s side of the love triangle linked to “august.”
The three connected Folklore songs use different viewpoints. “Cardigan” is associated with Betty, “Betty” is narrated by James, and “august” presents the perspective of the unnamed girl involved with James during the summer.
This structure is one of Folklore’s best-known narrative ideas. Rather than retelling exactly the same event three times, Swift uses separate songs to show how each character understands the romance, betrayal, regret, and aftermath.
Listeners sometimes identify “Betty” as Betty’s song because her name appears in its title. However, “Betty” is written from James’s perspective, while “Cardigan” is the track linked to Betty’s viewpoint. “august” completes the triangle by showing the feelings of the person whose summer relationship with James was never truly hers.