Taylor Swift's eighth studio album, Folklore, dropped last night, and fans are in a frenzy.
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Even Halsey is obsessed.
But there's one song in particular that people can't stop talking about: "Betty."
Everyone getting to Betty at the same time is just an internet listening party at its best. #Folklore
First of all, it's an absolute bop, and probably the song on the album that feels like the most old-school Taylor.
"Betty" is clearly about a girl named Betty whom the narrator of the song has a thing for:
It's set in high school and is super fun and sweet.
And because it's sung by a girl, people are getting a ~certain vibe~ from it:
betty (taylor swift, 2020) #folklore
I literally gasped when I heard, "It's like I couldn't breathe."
People are speculating that it's about a girl Taylor had a thing for:
taylor swift leaving the straight community after releasing betty
While Taylor has become a vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights, she has never stated that she's queer.
Meanwhile, others are pretty sure that Taylor herself is not the narrator. It's worth noting that Taylor released a letter about the stories behind Folklore, and she does mention some of the songs are from the point of view of other people:
"A seventeen-year-old standing in a porch, learning to apologize" seems to be about "Betty," since the song references being 17.
In fact, it seems pretty clear that "Betty" is one of three songs Taylor was referring to as the "Teenage Love Triangle":
the love triangle is betty and james and the girl james cheated with cardigan - betty pov illicit affairs - the girl he cheated with pov betty - james pov i just have the mind of a mastermind tbh
Who is the narrator, then, you ask? One lyric suggests it's a guy:
The line "She said 'James, get in, let's drive'" suggests that the narrator of the song is someone named James, presumably a guy.
HOWEVER, James could be a girl's name. In fact, James and Inez (two characters in the song) are the names of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' daughters.
🎵| In “Betty" Taylor sings about James and Inez which are the names of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' two oldest daughters. "You heard the rumors from Inez. You can't believe a word she says... She said James, get in, let's drive. Those days turned into nights.”
You might remember James from the start of Taylor's song "Gorgeous."
It seems to be intentionally left unclear whether or not "Betty" is a queer song. And until Taylor lets us know, we don't know the truth. However, it's always pretty awesome to hear a song about loving a girl, sung by a girl.
Betty
Waiting for the 100,000 amazing covers from queer girls that we're about to get.
I'm seriously hoping that Taylor reveals James to be a girl, but until then...
i would die for taylor swift
...catch me and Halsey running the Taylor Swift Fan Club.