With August officially starting today, Taylor Swift has finally revealed who the lyrics in her song august are really about.
As fans continue to indulge in the 2020 Folklore song, the singer-songwriter has finally shed some light on its true meaning. In the hit track, Taylor narrates a doomed romance, singing about an affair that was never meant to last.
“But I can see us lost in the memory / August slipped away into a moment in time / ‘Cause it was never mine / And I can see us twisted in bedsheets / August sipped away like a bottle of wine / ‘Cause you were never mine.”
Explaining the narrative in her documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Taylor confirms that August is part of a trilogy along with Cardigan and Betty. The songs form a fictional high school love triangle, with August focusing on a character named Augustine.
“What happened in my head was, ‘Cardigan’ is Betty’s perspective from 20 to 30 years later, looking back on this love that was this tumultuous thing. In my head, I think Betty and James ended up together. So, in my head, she ends up with him, but he really put her through it.”
“‘August’ was about the girl that James had this summer with. She seems like she’s a bad girl, but really she’s not. She’s a sensitive person who really fell for him, she was trying to seem cool and seem like she didn’t care…but she really did, and she thought they had something really real.”
Taylor emphasizes that everyone involved in the story has their own vulnerabilities and desires, debunking the notion of a villainous third party. august remains a poignant and relatable anthem for all those captivated by the hope and heartache of summer love.
“And then he goes back to Betty. So, the idea that there’s some bad, villain girl in any type of situation who takes your man is actually a total myth because that’s not usually the case at all. Everybody has feelings, everybody wants to be seen and loved and all Augustine wanted was love.”
