Taylor Swift’s Folklore Love Triangle Story Explained: How “Betty,” “August” & “Cardigan” Are Connected

With “betty,” “august,” and “cardigan” all finally appearing in a cut of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie together, there’s no better time to revisit Taylor Swift’s folklore love triangle. The concert movie, which brings Swift’s wildly popular Eras Tour to the screen, has landed on Disney+, but the new version of the Eras Tour isn’t without a few surprises. One of the highest-grossing concert movies of all time, The Eras Tour Movie‘s theatrical variant cut a few fan-favorite songs from the setlist. Tunes were added back in for VOD, but Disney+’s version is the definitive cut.

Branded on Disney+ as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie (Taylor’s Version), the streaming iteration of the concert film features five additional songs: four acoustic “surprise songs,” which play in the Eras Tour post-credits scene, and “cardigan,” the lead single off of Swift’s Grammy-winning folklore. While the concert chronicles the various “eras” of Swift’s career, there’s no denying the particular excitement that comes with watching her play songs from later albums. Infamously, Swift surprise-dropped folklore during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the Eras Tour is one of the first times she’s sung certain hits.

Folklore’s Songs “Betty,” “August” & “Cardigan” Are About A Teenage Love Triangle

Released during 2020, folklore is Taylor Swift’s eighth studio album, which was written during the earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced quarantine. Swift has called her Grammy-winning album “a collection of songs and stories that [flow] like a stream of consciousness.” Unlike Lover, reputation, and most of the singer-songwriter’s other albums, folklore emphasizes Swift’s poetic storytelling abilities. Moreover, folklore favors mellow piano- and string-driven ballads, allowing Swift to lean into a more indie-folk or alt-rock sensibility. The shift in genre serves the album’s themes beautifully, with Swift capturing a kind of romantic nostalgia.

While some songs are more melancholy than others, they all feed into folklore‘s uncanny world-building. Certain characters crop up throughout numerous tracks, and fictional story arcs tie many of the album’s threads into a cohesive whole — one that isn’t just thematic or sonic, but narrative. For a confessional, autobiographical writer like Swift, folklore is a marked change. That’s part of why folklore‘s love triangle between three teenage characters — Betty, James, and Augustine — is so enticing to listeners.

The Lyrics Of “August” Describe James Cheating On His Girlfriend Betty In A Summer Fling

While all three of the songs that feature Betty, James, and Augustine are featured in the Eras Tour’s setlist, “cardigan” wasn’t included in the movie version of the concert until it hit Disney+. Now, viewers have the opportunity to listen to folklore‘s complete triad of love-triangle songs. With a bridge that’s one of the Eras Tour Movie‘s most memorable moments, “august” is told from the perspective of Augustine, the teenage girl who has a “summer fling” with James. The lyrics, which feature an unsure Augustine and James getting caught up in an affair, emphasize the pair’s fleeting relationship.

“I can see us lost in the memory,” Augustine says, “August slipped away into a moment in time.” The common refrain is that August (the affair and James) were never the speaker’s to hold onto. Clearly, she knows that their fling is ephemeral, but Augustine can’t help but wonder if James will call her again after summer ends. During the summer, Augustine felt that “wanting was enough” to satisfy her, but she knew it was doomed to end. According to the singer of “august,” James was never hers to lose, and that they’d never be an “us” — not really.

“Betty”‘s Lyrics Are From James’ Perspective Trying To Apologize & Win Her Back

After the affair chronicled in “august,” James and Betty are back at school in Swift’s folklore song “betty.” A fourth character, Inez, allegedly fills Betty in on James’ infidelity (or, at the very least, summer fling), prompting Betty to avoid James at all costs. The heartbroken Betty changes her homeroom and doesn’t invite James to her upcoming party. All of this pushes James to fantasize about showing up to make a grand declaration of love. James even admits that, “The worst thing that I ever did was what I did to you,” illustrating his regret toward what happened in “august.”

James wonders if turning up on Betty’s doorstep, in front of all her friends, and apologizing would be enough for her to forgive him — for her to want him again. He blames his actions on being a 17-year-old who doesn’t really know what he wants, though the experience has clearly taught him a thing or two about his feelings for Betty. At the end of the song, James does show up on Betty’s doorstep. Given the final few lyrics — “Standing in your cardigan/ Kissin’ in my car again” — their reunion seems hopeful.

The Lyrics Of “Cardigan” Are From Betty’s Perspective About The Demise Of Her Romance With James

The third piece of folklore‘s love-triangle triad of songs is “cardigan,” which is sung from Betty’s perspective. The whole of “cardigan” recounts Betty’s thoughts on the demise of her relationship. “Chase two girls, lose the one” is an obvious reference to James’ affair with Augustine. At first, Betty and James had all they needed: kissing in cars and walking down cobblestone streets, both of which are referenced by James in “betty” too. For Betty, being in love with James was healing; she knew him for years, and he made life’s pain more bearable — until he caused more hurt.

The central metaphor in the song is, of course, Betty comparing herself to an “old cardigan.” For a while, Betty felt like damaged goods — like someone who used to be well-loved, but who was tossed aside, like a piece of discarded clothing “under someone’s bed.” When Betty and James got together, he made her feel beloved again — like someone putting on their (new) favorite cardigan. As the song goes on, Betty admits that she’s haunted by James and what they had, but that she knew he’d be back to apologize after the “thrill” of chasing Augustine “expired.“

Is Folklore’s Love Triangle About Real People? Taylor Swift’s Inspirations Explained

Although Betty, James, Augustine, and Inez don’t have real-life counterparts, Taylor Swift has commented about what inspired her to write the folklore love triangle and its characters. In an interview with Billboard, Swift recalled loving music that allows its singer and listeners to “slip into different identities.” While the teenage love-triangle was invented, Betty, James, and Inez’s names are all nods to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ kids, as Swift is very close with both Lively and Reynolds, adding a fun twist to the triad of folklore songs featured in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie (Taylor’s Version).