The Folklore Teenage Love Triangle: Explained

'Folklore' is 1 years old!

1. The Teenage Love Triangle

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'folklore' just turned one years old, and I still can get over it! So after spending a day streaming every single song on it, I decided to explain the brilliant 'Teenage Love Triangle' that will certainly change the way you view these masterpieces.

2. Brief History & Introduction

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The love triangle consist of 3 songs, cardigan (lead), august (8th), & betty (14th), all off her surprise 8th studio album 'folklore'. The three main characters are Betty, James, & Augustine. There's also a supporting character, Inez, as seen (or heard) in 'betty'.

3. 'cardigan' aka Betty's POV

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'cardigan' describes betty's feelings before and after she and James got back together after their first fallout.

'Chase two girls, lose the one' can pretty much translate to 'James cheated on Betty with Augustine.' 'The 1' (see what I did there?) is Betty, the other girl girl is August, and James is the person Betty's referring to. That was before they made up, and 'I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired' is after.

4. 'august' aka Augustine's POV

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Augustine was the person James dated during, well, August. For a certain period of time, she was known as 'the August girl' or 'that summer thing' until Taylor clarified her name on the documentary.

Augustine's a teenager whom truly believed that she and James could last, as seen in the lyrics 'back when I was living for the hope of it all.' But alas, James choose Betty, and 'August slipped away like a bottle of wine' for Augustine.

5. 'betty' aka James' POV

Taylor Swift on Youtube

Not gonna lie, this is my favorite song off 'folklore'. This gives me flashback to Taylor's old country songs, and I love it. 'betty' is quite the sad song, but not the typical 'august' type. It explains the feelings of the cheater, James, while he was with Augustine during the summer, and how he worked up the courage to 'show up at your (Betty's) party', plus the events that followed. It was a happy ending for him and Betty, and is it wrong for to be rooting for him the whole time?

6. Fun Facts

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- The characters from 'betty' are named after Blake Lively and Ryan Reynold's children (James, Betty, Inez)

-There was some debate on whether 'august' or 'illicit affairs' is Augustine's POV until Taylor confirmed it was 'august' on the documentary.

- Despite being the lead single, Taylor actually wrote 'august' before writing 'cardigan'

- There are references of 'august' and 'cardigan' in 'betty', such as:

1. 'high heels on cobblestones' to 'I was walking home on broken cobblestones';

2. 'to kiss in cars' to 'kissing in my car again';

3. 'I knew you'd be standing in my front porch light' to 'will you kiss me on the porch';

4. 'remember when I pulled up and said "get in the car"' to 'she said "James, get in"'