Taylor Swift’s surprise album Folklore came out on July 24th, 2020. It is the fifth most streamed Taylor Swift album, and fans find this album relatable to their own lives. However, a less-explored concept in Folklore is the love triangle. The “Love Triangle”, as Swifties call it, is a connection of three songs in the album, titled “Betty”, “August”, and “Cardigan”.
- Betty
Betty is a song in the album Folklore, and it is narrated by a character named James trying to apologize to a girl named Betty. In the song, James shows up at her party, apologizes, and tries to earn back a long-lost love with Betty, whom he has lost. James is already in a new relationship, but still feels as if he needs to make it up to Betty. For a while, fans weren’t sure if Betty and James ended up getting back together, but in November of 2020, Taylor Swift herself confirmed it in her documentary, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.
- August
August is another section of the love triangle. It is narrated by James’s new girlfriend, who isn’t explicitly named, but is often called Augustine by fans. In the song “August”, Augustine and James have a short relationship over the summer. However, it quickly ends once James goes back to school and forgets about Augustine. In the bridge of the song, Augustine argues that James wasn’t hers to lose, the direct lyric being “So much for summer love and saying ‘us’ ’cause you weren’t mine to lose”. The lyrics are touching, and near the end of the song, Augustine reflects on all the good memories she and James had made, and mentions that she was living for “the hope of it all”.
- Cardigan
Cardigan, narrated by the iconic Betty, is the third song in the Folklore Love Triangle. Betty recalls her relationship with James, and the fact that it was her first. Betty states that “when you are young you know nothing”, which may mean that she had let James take advantage of her, as she was naive. Like the two other songs in the love triangle, Cardigan is a sad song. According to the lyrics, Betty knows that James has hurt her, but keeps telling herself about how much James loves her because she doesn’t want to let go. Betty claims that she feels like an “old cardigan under someone’s bed”.
Overall, all three songs in the Folklore Love Triangle are beautiful, and the connections make them even deeper. If you pay close attention, “Folklore” and its sister album, “Evermore”, differ from Taylor Swift’s typical country-pop style, shifting more towards a cottage-core, alternative, and folk genre music. I personally find the love triangle especially captivating, and in the meantime, Taylor has yet to drop more songs and albums, and who knows, she might even create another love triangle in a future album.
