August

“august” is the eighth track on Taylor’s eighth studio album, folklore (2020). It was released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records. The song is the second part of the “Teenage Love Triangle” on the record and is told from the point of view of Augustine, the girl James cheated on Betty with.

Alongside fellow tracks “cardigan” and “betty“, “august” constitutes a fictitious love triangle involving three characters: Betty, James, and an unnamed female. The song is written from the latter’s perspective, depicting her sorrow over her derailed summer romance with James, who abandoned her and reconciled with Betty. Taylor, in her 2020 concert documentary folklore: the long pond studio sessions, said that she personally calls the unnamed narrator “Augustine” or “Augusta”.

Background and Release

Taylor and producer Jack Antonoff had written and produced songs for her previous studio albums 1989 (2014), reputation (2017), and Lover (2019). They collaborated again on folklore, which Taylor surprise-released amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. She wrote or co-wrote all songs on the album, and Antonoff produced six, including “august,” which is one of his “favorite things [they’ve] done together.” For the song, Antonoff produced the instrumental first, and sent it to Taylor who wrote the lyrics “on the spot; it just was an intuitive thing”. As with other tracks of the album, Taylor created “august” based on a fictional narrative with imagined story arcs and characters.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Salt air
And the rust on your door
I never needed anything more
Whispers
Of, “Are you sure?”
“Never have I ever before”

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 2]
Your back
Beneath the sun
Wishing I could write my name on it
Will you call when you’re back at school?
I remember thinking I had you

[Chorus]
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

[Bridge 1]
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 in case you’d call
And say, “Meet me behind the mall”
So much for summer love and saying “us”
‘Cause you weren’t mine to lose
You weren’t mine to lose
No

[Chorus]
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

[Post Chorus]
‘Cause you were never mine
Never mine
Do you remember?

[Bridge 2]
Remember when I pulled up
And said, “Get in the car”
And then canceled my plans just in case you’d call
Back when I was living for the hope of it all
For the hope of it all
“Meet me behind the mall”
(Remember when I pulled up)
(And said, “Get in the car”)
(And then canceled my plans just in case you’d call)
(Back when I was living for the hope of it all)
(For the hope of it all)
(“Meet me behind the mall”)

[Outro]
Remember when I pulled up
And said, “Get in the car”
And then canceled my plans just in case you’d call
Back when I was living for the hope of it all
For the hope of it all
For the hope of it all
For the hope of it all
For the hope of it all