Just Three out of the countless reasons why TS is a genius
I’m sure all of you Swifites know all about the love triangle in the songs Betty, Cardigan and August from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album Folklore. If you are new to this genius story that Taylor Swift made come to life, I will briefly explain it. Long story short, we have three high school characters: Betty, James and the unnamed narrator of August. James and Betty were each other’s first big loves until James cheated on her with the narrator of August. He then apologizes to Betty and asks her to come back to him. Each song tells the story from each of the characters’ points of view. Betty tells it from James’, Cardigan tells it from Betty’s and August tells it from the unnamed narrator that James cheated with. Taylor Swift’s lyrics connect the three songs in so many different ways in order to create this storyline. I feel like I notice more nuances and details every time I listen to them. I am going to point out some of my favorites because, whether they are more obvious or more hidden, all of Taylor Swift’s lyrics deserve to be talked about.
- The Level of Maturity in Cardigan vs Betty
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As I mentioned before, Cardigan is told from the point of view of Betty. The lyrics in this song are complex and involve many metaphors. It is clear that Betty’s thoughts and feelings are mature and she is able to communicate them this way. For instance, the famous “You drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding” vividly depicts Betty’s feeling of heartbreak after James made her feel loved even with her scars, only to cheat on her, which made her scars “bleed”. These scars could be interpreted as trauma from her past or imperfections she believes she has. In comparison, we have the lyrics of Betty, told from James’ point of view. Throughout the lyrics, it is clear that his emotions are surface level, which highlights his lack of maturity. His thoughts are very to the point and although it’s clear that he means it, his apology to Betty in the song is not very heartfelt. Additionally, he is not able to express his love for her the way Betty was able to express her heartbreak. I am sure this was an extremely deliberate choice that Taylor made to compare the childishness of James with the emotional maturity of Betty. This does not diminish the power of Betty as a song- I love them all the same; instead, it highlights one of the many examples of Taylor Swift’s brilliant mind at work.
- “Tried to change the ending/Peter losing Wendy”
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These two short lines from Cardigan hold so much weight. To understand them, we have to think about what happened between Wendy and Peter in Peter Pan. If you remember, Wendy decided not to be with Peter because he wanted to stay a child forever and she knew it was time for her to grow up. This decision symbolizes Wendy being ready to embrace the responsibilities of adulthood and step out of a make-believe world to step into the real one. In Cardigan, Betty is saying that she tried to change the ending of Peter Pan, with her being Wendy and James being Peter. Although he is clearly still a child and she is ready for a real, grown-up relationship, she convinced herself that their ending would be different. She was clearly wrong because in the end, he proved to be not mature enough for her, just like Peter was not mature enough for Wendy. As I keep saying, look at how much of a genius Taylor is! also ties into my first point, as Betty is pointing out James’ lack of maturity, and he is proving her right through his surface-level emotions in Betty.
- Who is this mysterious narrator of August?
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I’m not sure if you have noticed, but this person that James cheated with has barely been brought up. This is definitely on purpose. The very brief and depersonalized mentions of her in Betty and Cardigan along with the fact that we don’t even know her name is Taylor’s way of telling us how irrelevant she is made to feel.This makes her story even more heart-wrenching and sad. She was a summer fling to James, hence the title of the song, and he only wanted to see her in secluded locations so that no one would know. Although she knew the whole time that James was with Betty, because of the line “you weren’t mine to lose,” she was still attached to him and wanted him to love her. But no matter how she felt about him, she knew that she would never be more than an affair to him. The lack of her name highlights the lack of regard that James and even Betty had for her. We can also tie in the song Illicit Affairs here, but that can be a story for another day.
These are three of many moments in these songs that make the story really come to life. I have so many more thoughts about this storyline and so many other lyrics in so many other TS songs, so be ready for more! I hope you enjoyed these interpretations and I hope this makes you want to go listen to Folklore on repeat if you aren’t already.