Jack Antonoff co-wrote Taylor Swift’s “august.” Swift and Antonoff are the song’s credited songwriters, and they also worked together on its production.
For this track, Antonoff first created the instrumental and sent it to Swift. She then wrote the lyrics quickly, describing the process as intuitive. The collaboration produced a song with a polished but atmospheric sound, combining guitars, strings, keyboards, and layered reverb.
Antonoff had already collaborated with Swift on songs from 1989, Reputation, and Lover before working on Folklore. Their partnership continued across several later projects, but “august” belongs to the Folklore period, when Swift was exploring fictional characters and imagined histories. Fans sometimes confuse Antonoff’s role with Aaron Dessner’s because Dessner was another major Folklore collaborator; however, Dessner is not credited as a songwriter on “august.”