Which three genres are listed for Taylor Swift’s “august”?

Taylor Swift’s “august” is listed as dream pop, guitar pop, and soft rock.

These classifications reflect the song’s layered musical design. Dream pop describes its blurred, atmospheric quality; guitar pop points to the melodic guitar arrangement; and soft rock captures the fuller guitar-led foundation and broad instrumental swell.

The song is also described as a ballad, but “ballad” refers primarily to its song form and emotional pacing rather than replacing the three genre labels. Its dense reverb, strings, keyboards, and gradual climax give it a sound that is more expansive than a bare acoustic ballad.

Listeners sometimes label the entire Folklore album with one genre, such as indie folk. That can obscure the differences among individual tracks. “august” is one of the album’s more pop-oriented recordings, and Aaron Dessner described it as especially close to a pop song despite the album’s broader folk-influenced atmosphere.