writtenbycaitlin

A triad of songs, capturing a multifaceted love triangle. The folklore love triangle shows Taylor Swift at her songwriting best.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Swift created her most immersive and layered album yet. Swift announced her eighth album ‘folklore’ only seventeen hours before its release, and less than a year after the release of her previous album ‘Lover’.

‘folklore’ is crafted meticulously to build worlds that listeners can become completely immersed in. Swift combines past experiences and fiction in a deep, lyrically complex manner and creates characters that feel real and relatable. This album has enchanting piano melodies, gentle vocals, and rewards close listening. Its lyrics and cinematic storytelling set it apart from previous works. Each word is delicate and intentional and truly proves Swift’s brilliance.

The ‘folklore love triangle’: august, betty, cardigan.

These three songs tell the fictional tale of teenagers Betty, James, and a girl that fans have named ‘Augustine’. These songs are spread throughout the album, being the second, eighth, and fourteenth tracks. Each song explores their individual perspectives on their love triangle; all being flawed and unreliable.

august

‘august’ gives a voice to ‘Augustine’, the ‘other girl’ who fell for James during their summer romance. Swift creates a narrative that encourages listeners to empathise with the character that in most stories would be villainised. It shows that she is lonely, hopeful, but also self-aware and realises it won’t last. “For me it was enough, to live for the hope of it all. “August slipped away into a moment in time, ‘cause it was never mine”. She is the most honest and emotionally mature character, accepting that she mistook scraps of James’ affection for a future.

betty

‘betty’s lyrics are written entirely from James’ perspective, directly to Betty, attempting to repair their relationship. James is the least self-aware character, and the lyrics truly feel like they are coming from this teenage boy. He tries to apologise but ultimately spends the whole song trying to minimise and justify his actions: “I hate the crowds, you know that. Plus, I saw you dance with him” and shift the blame onto ‘Augustine’, without acknowledging her feelings: “Just thinkin’ of you when she pulled up like a figment of my worst intentions”. James is apologetic, but not fully accountable. This makes him realistic and flawed, without him being presented as evil. The song also makes a clear link to the song ‘cardigan’, “standin’ in your cardigan”, so we know that ‘cardigan’ is from Betty’s perspective.

cardigan

I would argue that ‘cardigan’ is the most lyrically complex out of the three songs. The line “I knew everything when I was young” contrasts with the line “I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything” in ‘betty’. These lines show a difference in perspectives and maturity between the characters Betty and James. Betty understood it all back then, but James used his age as an excuse. But Betty’s viewpoint is tinted too. Whilst she understands the betrayal, she over-romanticises James, and still likely much further down the line believes herself to have been “the one”. Lastly, the line “You drew scars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding” poetically describes having someone turn something painful into something beautiful but then having that become painful too.

Overall, these songs show how, when done right, songs can build intricate worlds that listeners can escape and immerse themselves in, just like books and film. Taylor Swift does this perfectly.

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