“Betty” by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s “Betty” can be said to be the part 2 or the follow-up of her song “August“. On “August”, Taylor had narrated the tale of a very special summer love that failed to flourish. However, she stopped short of mentioning exactly why it failed. On this track (“Betty”), listeners finally get to know why the summer romance in “August” collapsed. And the reason it ended was because the male partner (James) was seeing two girls at the same time, including the one from “August”.

Here, Taylor portrays the character James and addresses the titular “Betty” whom he offended. As James speaks, we get to know that he cheated on Betty with the girl from “August”. And now he’s so sorry for what he did and begs her to forgive him and take him back because he truly loves and misses her greatly.

Love Triangle

This is one of three songs on Taylor’s “Folklore” album which center on a love triangle. The other two songs are “August” and “Cardigan“. And it is important to note that Taylor narrates the tales of each song from the perspective of each of the three people involved in the love triangle. Below is Taylor’s explanation of the love triangle:

Facts about “Betty”

Taylor uses the “F” word on this track. And considering this very unusual of her, many fans were surprise (or rather shocked). Said swear word appears twice in the song. And in both instances, the word is used in the song’s chorus.

Two songwriters are credited with the composing of this song. And they are Swift and one William Bowery.

Having finished penning this tune, the duo teamed up with a famous songwriter and producer in the person of Jack Antonoff to have the song produced.

In creating this song and the entire album, Taylor and her collaborators worked in isolation. This was primarily due to the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Betty” and its album (“Folklore”) came out via Republic Records in July of 2020. And considering it was a single release, it took no time in becoming one of fans’ favorite tracks on its album.