August may seem like a regular month to most, but to Taylor Swift fans, the month holds a special place in our hearts. The 8th track on Taylor’s 7th studio album ‘Folklore‘ has become a world-wide favorite, and here’s why.
‘August’ first began trending in when Folklore made it’s debut, taking over the charts. A full two years later and the song has made it’s way back to the trending #1.
What Makes This Song So Special?
Multiple aspects, really. Produced by Taylor, Jack Antonoff and her long-time partner Joe Alwyn, ‘August’ has be described as “one of the most addicting songs in Taylor’s Discography.”
Beginning with the instrumentals, the sober sound is ever changing through out the 4 minute and 22 seconds of bliss. There is no song instrumentally quite like it as the guitar holds a unique sound and the tension is every building and calming through out.
Lyrically, Folklore is based around what fans call the “Taylor Swift Multiverse”. ‘August’, along with other songs on the album like ‘Betty’ and ‘Cardigan’, are the story of a fiction love triangle between characters Betty, James and Augustine.
These are characters are named after the children of actor Ryan Reynolds and actress Blake Lovely’s children as they are Taylor’s closest friends. The release of ‘Betty’ was an announcement of the couple’s new-born’s name!
What Do The Songs Mean?
The first song in the sequence of their story is ‘Betty’, showcasing James’ perspective. He speaks of his great love with Betty turning cold as he was disloyal during the summer time. As the song goes on, James begs for Betty’s forgiveness while still lost in the mystery that was the beautiful girl he was unfaithful with. James spends his time trying to justify his mistakes with his age, 17, asking Betty if he showed up for her, would she could ever take him back?
Although you may already have judgements on the idea of a love triangle, I am so tired of people pinning the women against each other, when ultimately, the blame falls on the man. The story of ‘Betty’ ‘August’ ‘Cardigan’ and the rest of Folklore depicts how James played the both of them, the pain that James caused to both the women, neither of whom at fault, as well as his confusion and justification for his mistakes.
We get more context on the love triangle in ‘August’, which is from Augustine’s point of view, describing her summer love with James. The first verse begins as “Salt air, and the rust on your door, I never needed anything more, Whispers, of are you sure? Never have I ever before.” This sets the scene to show us that the affair between James and Augustine had taken place.
The chorus of the song continues as: “But I can see us lost in the memories, August slipped away like a moment in time, cuz it was never mine, I can see us twisted in bed sheets, August sipped away like a bottle of wine, cuz you were never mine.” This is were she tell us in reminiscence that James was never with her, as they had never committed to one another although we can see tell that she loved him through this somber ballad.
“Back when we were still changing for the better, wanting was enough, for me it was enough, to live for the hope of it all, cancel plans just incase you’d call and say ‘meet me behind the mall’, so much for summer love, and saying ‘us’, cuz you weren’t mine to lose.” Taylor continues in one of the most tragic and beautifully written and bridges. Augustine is expressing that the bare minimum of wanting to spend time with one another made her happy, even just a glimpse of hope of a perfect love.
She describes that she would cancel her plans just in the case James would call her and ask to meet and sadly resigns in the end that James was never ‘her’s’ to lose, as she never had him in the first place. “Meet me behind the mall” became a significant reoccurring sentence through out the song insinuating that James and Augustine would only meet in private.
As she reminisces she asks “Remember when I pulled up and said ‘get in the car?’….. back when I was living for the hope of it all.” This lyric can be traced back to the song ‘Betty’ where James recalls his affair with Augustine to Betty. He recites:
“I was walking home on broken cobble stone, just thinking of you, when she pulled up like, a figment of my worst intentions, she said ‘James, get in, let’s ride’, those days turned into nights, slept next to her but, I dreamt of you all summer long.” This over explanation of his encounter with Augustine is almost as if James gets lost in his thoughts when he thinks of his summer with her before saving himself by claiming he dreamt of Betty the whole time.
The multiverse continues through out the rest of Folklore, where we hear from an older version of Betty’s point of view in ‘Cardigan’ thinking about James, where she says “I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired, and I knew you’d come back to me.“
All of the songs on Folklore hold an interest story to add to the Taylor Swift multiverse, however August has proved to be one of the most beautiful sad songs written by Swift on the album, and the world agrees.
August Trending on Twitter and TikTok
Fans are celebrating the month of August in commemoration of the song, as the story of James, Betty and Augustine is one that many fans hold close to their hearts.
Stay updated on all of our latest news by subscribing to the ITP Live newsletter below