Folklore, released in July 2020, is Taylor Swift’s eighth studio album and a fan (and personal) favorite. Throughout Swift’s favorable album, containing 17 songs, fans quickly noticed a storytelling aspect–or some may say ‘lore’– throughout the tracks 1 hour and 7 minute play time. Discussing the album in a YouTube Q&A, Swift confirmed “three songs explore a love triangle from all three people’s perspective.” Although unconfirmed, hidden concepts in tracks have had fans speculating the three songs include Cardigan, August, and Betty. What’s so admirable about this love triangle? What is the Folklore lore?
Starting in chronological album order, Cardigan is perceived from the perspective of Betty. Betty is what you may call “The 1”, coincidently the name of the next track on the album. She is the girl that ultimately ends up with ‘The Boy’. Betty, whose age is undisclosed, reminisces on her young youthful relationship she had been in with James. She recounts the fun times, feeling nostalgic over “playing hide-and-seek/and giving me your weekends”. It is assumed that Betty had been cheated on over the summer by her boyfriend at the time, James. Swift writes, “I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired/and I knew you’d come back to me”, therefore stating Betty knew deep down that her lover would come back to her after the thrill of his affair had concluded. Moving forward, there are many connections between the song ‘Cardigan’ and the following track fourteen song.
‘Betty’ is from the perspective of the boy James, who attempts to win back Betty after she finds out about his summer fling, in which he cheated on her. James recalls his relationship with Betty, reliving their memories as he sculpts an apology for her. James, later on in the song, shows up to Betty’s party unannounced, and apologizes to her. James begs for her to take him back, just like she presumed, yet it’s undisclosed whether she takes him back.
The final song in the love triangle is August, from the perspective of an unnamed character. Fans however have developed the name Augustine, a play off of the song’s title. August is an upbeat, nostalgic summer song, where Augustine recalls a summer fling she had. Augustine is analyzed as the ‘other woman’; the girl that doesn’t get the boy, yet still gets the heartbreak. Augustine recalls being entrapped in a one sided affair, where she would “cancel plans just in case” James called. Augustine knew she wouldn’t be with him when the summer was over, yet she was “livin’ for the hope of it all”, hoping that possibly they may be more. It’s undisclosed whether Augustine knew of James’ girl back at home, but we can assume she may be aware as their fling concluded. Swift writes “Cause you weren’t mine to lose/You weren’t mine to lose”.
There are many instances where the three songs share similar lyrics, further clarifying to fans that these three songs are indeed the ones in a supposed love triangle. My favorites are included below!
Cardigan: “High heels on cobblestone” —> Betty: “I was walking home on broken cobblestones”
Cardigan: “To kiss in cars and downtown bars” —> Betty: “Kissin’ in my car again”
Cardigan: “ I felt like I was an old cardigan” —> Betty: “Standing in your cardigan”
Betty: She said “James, get in, let’s drive”—> August: “Remember when I pulled up and said, “Get in the car”
