Taylor Swift released folklore in 2020. The album featured plenty of standout cuts, ‘betty’ among Swift’s finest moments. Here are the lyrics explained.
During the 2020 pandemic, Taylor Swift veered away from pop music and took a detour into folk music. She needed and wanted to reflect on the world around her. The singer had built her career through making country music and pop, so her storytelling sensibilities were already intact.
The 16-track record houses the fictional love triangle between James, Betty, and Augustine. The affair is told in three parts: ‘cardigan,’ ‘august,’ and ‘betty.’ The entirely fictional storyline stands in stark contrast to Swift’s typically autobiographical work. But it’s no less specific and rich.
Each song in the storyline is told from a different perspective, allowing each character to have a fully realized life packed with emotions and personal reflections. ‘betty,’ which debuted at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, shouldn’t be unraveled on its own merits. You have to look at the bigger picture. Here are the lyrics explained.
What are the lyrics to ‘betty’?
‘betty’ features a three-verse story structure with each stanza peeling back the layers to the over-arching storyline.
Here are the complete lyrics.
[Verse 1]Betty, I won’t make assumptionsAbout why you switched your homeroom, butI think it’s ’cause of meBetty, one time, I was riding on my skateboardWhen I passed your houseIt’s like I couldn’t breathe
[Pre-Chorus]You heard the rumors from InezYou can’t believe a word she saysMost times, but this time, it was trueThe worst thing that I ever didWas what I did to you
[Chorus]But if I just showed up at your partyWould you have me? Would you want me?Would you tell me to go fuck myselfOr lead me to the garden?In the garden, would you trust meIf I told you it was just a summer thing?I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anythingBut I know I miss you
[Verse 2]Betty, I know where it all went wrongYour favorite song was playingFrom the far side of the gymI was nowhere to be foundI hate the crowds, you know thatPlus, I saw you dance with him
[Pre-Chorus]You heard the rumors from InezYou can’t believe a word she saysMost times, but this time, it was trueThe worst thing that I ever didWas what I did to you
[Chorus]But if I just showed up at your partyWould you have me? Would you want me?Would you tell me to go fuck myselfOr lead me to the garden?In the garden, would you trust meIf I told you it was just a summer thing?I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anythingBut I know I miss you
[Bridge]I was walking home on broken cobblestonesJust thinking of you when she pulled up likeA figment of my worst intentionsShe said, “James, get in, let’s drive”Those days turned into nightsSlept next to her, butI dreamt of you all summer long[Verse 3]Betty, I’m here on your doorstepAnd I planned it out for weeks nowBut it’s finally sinkin’ inBetty, right now is the last timeI can dream about what happens whenYou see my face again
[Pre-Chorus]The only thing I wanna doIs make it up to youSo I showed up at your partyYeah, I showed up at your party
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[Chorus]Yeah, I showed up at your partyWill you have me? Will you love me?Will you kiss me on the porchIn front of all your stupid friends?If you kiss me, will it be just like I dreamed it?Will it patch your broken wings?I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anythingBut I know I miss you
[Outro]Standing in your cardiganKissin’ in my car againStopped at a streetlightYou know I miss you
Who wrote and produced ‘betty’?
‘betty’ was co-written with Swift’s then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
The song was co-produced with Alwyn, Aaron Dessner, and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff.
In Taylor Swift’s folklore: the long pond studio sessions, the singer-songwriter explained how the song came to be. “I just heard Joe singing the entire fully formed chorus of ‘betty’ from another room,” she began. “And I was just like, ‘Hello.’”
Writing a song together wasn’t a step the pair had yet taken in their relationship, but Swift was drawn to the chorus. “This was the first time we had a conversation where I came in,” she continued, “and I was like, ‘Hey, this could be really weird, and we could hate this, so because we’re in quarantine and there’s nothing else going on, could we just try to see what it’s like if we write this song together?'”
What is ‘betty’ about?
‘betty’ features a delicate, nostalgia-drenched musicality that permits the lyrics to puncture through. Guitar and harmonica are among the song’s most prominent instruments, a creative decision that further underscores a suppleness to the emotional thread line. Taylor Swift’s vocals are equally as sweet, yet splashed with regret and sadness.
In an early session with Alwyn, Swift felt the song “sounded really good from a man’s voice, from a masculine perspective. I really liked that it seemed to be an apology.”
“I’ve written so many songs from a female’s perspective of wanting a male apology, that we decided to make it from a teenage boy’s perspective apologizing after he loses the love of his life because he’s been foolish,” she added.
As part of a love triangle, alongside ‘cardigan’ and ‘august,’ ‘betty’ reveals the final chapter of the story where the character of James loses “the love of his life and doesn’t understand how to get it back,” Taylor Swift said. The object of his affection, Betty has seemingly moved on and flourishes in a new relationship.
“I think we all have these situations in our lives where we learn to really, really give a heartfelt apology for the first time. Everybody makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes,” Taylor Swift said. “I’ve always loved that in music you can kinda slip into different identities and you can sing from other people’s perspectives.”
Where ‘betty’ is told through James’s perspective, ‘cardigan’ slips into Betty’s viewpoint. Meanwhile, ‘august’ is told through Augustine’s eyes. Together, the trilogy unfolds a cohesive story about young love, regret, and owning one’s mistakes.
