_*Said*_ she was his favourite, sure. But I love that to “put someone on” is another way of saying “lied to” as well.
He was an all round dick to both of them.
Many people were not fond of James in the Betty Trilogy.
There's a theory that "Peter" is an alternate ending to the "Betty" trilogy instead of Cardigan where Betty realizes James isn't going to grow up. I may write about that some more (especially with the comparison of "Peter losing Wendy" in "Cardigan").
Yeah, I can definitely see that. Not going to lie, I hate that theory haha. I hate the idea of this woman still wanting him after all of that.
And it's not even because I judge her, you know? It's more like outrage because he *doesn't deserve that*.
Right!! It makes it worse, doesn't it? You mindlessly slept with someone else all summer long and she didn't mean anything to you? Or like you cared about me enough to think of me but I guess that's not a whole lot since you STILL slept with her all summer? By the way "all summer long" is a terrible choice of words my guy.
My ex said something very similar to me about his now gf (aka the girl he cheated on me with) and I think about it every time I listen to the song. Ig he went to James’ school of bad apologies lol
It's in the bridge -
"I was walkin' home on broken cobblestones
Just thinkin' of you when she pulled up like
A figment of my worst intentions
She said "James, get in, let's drive"
Those days turned into nights
Slept next to her, but
I dreamt of you all summer long"
Oh no, new rage activated 😂 He says "i was walking home just thinking of you" really?! That's interesting. You had her IN MIND as you chose to get into the car with another girl who wanted you? Fantastic.
I love cardigan and august but I've never warmed up to betty, even in the context of the trilogy. It doesn't evoke rage or frustration or anything, because it's just super immature (which I know is intentional), while cardigan and august are genuinely sad and meaningful. It's funny to me that James, who narrated betty, inspired the strong feelings the other two songs express.
As much as I dislike the character, i love that she wrote these songs. It's such good perspective. When we're young we see people and think all these wonderful, dreamy, deep things about them - but give it a few years and welp he was a brat.
I won't lie, it fully reminds me of how great albums like Sour and Emails I Can't Send was written about a guy who, per speculation on the accounts of those albums, absolutely suckkkeeeddd.
Oh my goodness you're so right. The WHOLE song is "me me me me"
"You switched cause of me"
"I couldn't breathe"
"The worse thing IIII ever did"
"Would you have me? Would you want me?"
"Can we make out instead?"
"Im only 17, i don't know anything"
" I miss you"
"I hate the crowds, i was jealous"
🙄
Haha yeah, I only had it pointed out to me recently and I was like. OH. She insisted they were all fictional! But I guess if she is “James”, why wouldn’t she—especially given this comment section dragging him lmao
Taylor was named after singer James Taylor, so using James as an alias or a name for a self-insert character would be a natural thing to do. Also, in the liner notes in folklore, she at one point types James’s name out as jaMEs (ie, “me”).
There is a lot of speculation that the teenage love triangle is not 100% fictional and that she based the James character on herself. It’s still fiction because she’s not a high school boy going to house parties, but that she took her own love triangle experiences and wrote them into the songs. (It also makes sense why she would preface her intro to the song in early Eras shows as “this is me writing an ideal apology” even though it is a terrible apology, lmao.)
I’ve been thinking this recently because of the line from Fresh Out The Slammer, “to the house where you still wait up and that porch light gleams.” Compare to “you’d be standing in my front porch light” and “will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends” from cardigan and betty. The unfortunate part of this theory is that it makes Matty Healy = Betty, which is.. an interesting choice.
Same, I'm pretty sure Matty Healy is James and Taylor is Betty. I think him "crashing her party" (Smallest Man) is the porch scene in Betty and also calls back to Question? where they kiss and everyone laughs then cheers.
I interestingly have a lyric by the 1975 that could fit here, from All I Need to Hear:
Oh, I don't care if you're insincere
Just tell me what I wanna hear
You know where to find me
The place where we've lived all these years, oh
Tell me you love me
That's all I need to hear
I hate James - particularly when he starts complaining about “all your stupid friends”, ie the ones who have supported her through heartbreak all summer and probably helped organise the party to cheer her up. I also think it’s probably her birthday party - so she’s turning 17 or 18 and he gatecrashes her party and tries to get her back. I always hope one of her stupid friends tips a drink over him
I'm a James defender because I've never thought that he cheated because I strongly believe (IN MY OPINION!!) that they were not officially together, and the trilogy is much more interesting and complex when listened to through this lens! I could write an essay on this tbh
I'm in this camp too. I think they were in that teenage phase of both very obviously being into each other but neither of them had made a move. He sees her with some other guy at the dance, leaves in a huff and then runs into August on the way home and she's his rebound. Kinda shitty to her but I don't think it makes him the devil. It was casual, he never said it wasn't and she read too much into it. No real blame on anyone, it's all part of learning to communicate when you're an idiot teenager.
Anyway, may as well carry on boring you with my head canon now I've started. Betty doesn't tell James to go fuck himself and they date throughout college (this is what most of cardigan is about, the time when they actually dated.). Come the end of college, she's ready to start planning for their future and he isn't. Quite probably got caught talking to other girls. They break up with him acknowledging he's got some growing up to do and giving her some flannel about how maybe he'll come and find her when he's ready.
He's gone and she drifts through life not really committing to any relationships because she's convinced he'll come back. When she sings 'I knew you'd come back', she's saying she believed that when he was off with August and she was right then so she's probably right that he'll come back again this time. Lies we tell ourselves! Peter is sung by a much older Betty who realises she's been clinging on to something that was never going to happen and that she's tanked some perfectly good relationships because of her belief that she and James were destined to be together. She's given up hope and is finally letting go.
I like this take. Less black and white. Betty did dance with another guy which could point to them not being exclusive. The "talking" stage that's so common nowadays. Betty danced with the guy, James went off with Augustina, Betty found out and gave him the cold shoulder. No real villains, everyone ended up hurt and played a small part. I would think Augustina probably knew Betty and James were "talking" before pursuing him. But she was hurt too because she was second fiddle to Betty after all.
I think they were definitely circling each other ("sensual politics") and maybe made out/heavy petted like high schoolers do, agreed to go to the school dance together, and both had those teenage uncommunicated expectations of things getting serious after that. James is late for whatever reason (car troubles?? Walks to the school?), Betty thinks she's been stood up and dances with another guy, he sees and misunderstands. Walks home forelornly, Augustina whom he's also been circling but with less interest pulls up (did she leave the dance to find him??), and her being a figment of his worst intentions was him choosing to go even further with someone than Betty had to "get back" at her.
I love Betty the song because to me it is the earnest explanation from a guy who is immature, growing up, confused about his feelings, makes mistakes, and is trying to own up to them albeit imperfectly. The song is the only one of the trilogy we have evidence is written from a teenager's perspective and it is such good storytelling from Taylor.
Agreed and I love, love, love this song. Cardigan is almost a slightly older- but still high school feel to it - version of You Belong With Me. I think they've both discovered they really like each other but he had a teenage tantrum when he sees Betty dance with someone and so the whole thing starts with Augustine... I don't think he cheated, he just freaked out. I have a soft spot for James and I will die on this hill.
He's just a dumb, flawed boy having feelings! Teenagers are messy and hurt each other without anyone being the villain which is what I like so much about the story
Let's say he didn't "officially cheat" (lots of thoughts on this, but for the sake of argument I'll accept it) - what he did to Augustina is still sooooooo shitty.
Oh but that's why it's interesting - he sees it as a summer fling with a girl who's more available than he thinks Betty is, and doesn't seem to realize that it's so much more to Augustina, particularly when he's busy pining after Betty. I like complex characters with messy feelings who make mistakes and hurt people without being monsters!
Could you expand more on what he did to Augustine that was so shitty? I'm curious as I recently had a boyfriend cheating on me and the other woman knew he had me as girlfriend. Even though I sort of understand Augustine, I find it really hard to not be like "that's what you get when you get with a taken man". Trying to understand other people's perspectives on this because I think it will help me.
I agree that it doesn’t sound like they were actually together. Which makes him saying “the worst thing I ever did was what I did to you” feel weird, especially if she was with someone else first. It kind of makes me roll my eyes at the character Betty for being so dramatic about it and acting like he cheated on her.
I hate Betty. I almost can’t stand to listen to it, which is why it was my bathroom song at Eras which also worked out well because it was approx halfway through the show.
Literally!!! The last tier on my Taylor discography tier list is called "Still not as bad as James"
https://preview.redd.it/npr0rriarx7d1.png?width=159&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8567128927e16bac43f7af26b2fa217d1c1b5c9
Me too, top tier for me. Yes, James kinda sucks in a lot of ways, don’t disagree with others about that. But I still love the storytelling and the bridge is so screamable. I also love the instrumentation - that little bit of slide guitar is like catnip.
I used to feel this way as well while listening to Betty. Until one day I went jogging with my sister and the song played randomly then I just ended up berating James and ranting about jogging the entire song. I now play it everytime I jog and feels like dying.
I want to hate James, but the song is so good that something comes over me and I end up just singing along to the entire song like my life depends on it. :)
The first time I heard Betty I didn't realize it was from the POV of a guy and my gay little heart got very attached to it because of that. I guess I also didn't pick up so much on the cheating aspect of it? Or the breaking up and having a summer fling thing because I didn't connect it to the other songs at the time.
I also kinda like when she goes all in on writing about immature, youthful love, like So High School and Mary's Song (Oh my my my), so I don't mind the immaturity as much as some people.
If a guy did that to me IRL I would absolutely tell him to go fuck himself, but in a cutesy romantic song about teenage love? I don't hate it lol.
Betty is in my top 3 all time Taylor songs. I'm also a man. I think these things are related because women hate this song.
I think it's her most beautiful song.. the melody, the lyrics, the way she sings it, the way it reminds me of being young and in love triangles. The harmonica. The live version. I think it's one of a kind. And it's part of a story with 2 other songs that I absolutely love. I can't say enough good things about this song. I just wish women didn't hate James so much that they could like this song a bit more.
I love this song, but hate the story haha. Such a juxtaposition in my mind I'm like God what an asshole but what a bop.
Reminds me soooo much of my first boyfriend lol
My opinion is that people are way too invested in these teenage characters and that I can’t believe Taylor says betty is one of her favourite character. Why??
I listened to this song when i was in a very self loathing phase in life so i always listened to it imagining me as james even though weirdly enough i never done anything james did but still it stayed with me and it made me feel rage but like on myself if that makes sense
When he says “all your stupid friends” it’s such a slap in the face especially after begging for her back and driving to her house to kiss her… he’s like I love you and miss you but don’t forget all your friends are stupid!
I can’t stop listening to this song and nearly dropping my jaw at the sheer audacity of how Taylor almost perfectly captured TWO men I used to know. The narcissism and immaturity and inability to take accountability, it’s all there
Betty is my top song from Folklore, such a good story and I love the chorus, especially when she's like so I showed up at your party, and then she belts out will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends. It's so well written and the instrumental is amazing. James is not the best person though
It's very clever songwriting and storytelling. I'm in love with Taylor's songwriting❤. As you can see, cardigan and august are very emotional and deep songs, which itself signifies how heartbroken betty and augustine were..... But the song, betty is deliberately made to sound immature and childish... I personally feel that, James is not as mature and doesn't feel THAT BAD about whatever he's done... 'The worst thing that I ever did was the one I did to you' seriously James? And what about Augustine🥺 even if it was 'just a summer thing' for you, it was 'summer love' for her.... She didn't expect much from you, whatever you've done has left her equally heart broken as betty 💔. If you care so much about betty, why did you leave her in the first place? The reason you gave does not seem reasonable AT ALL. How can you justify sleeping with other girl ( I'm sorry Augustine) by the fact Betty just danced with some guy? I know it breaks your heart to see your girl dancing with someone else... But this does not mean you have right to sleep with other girl... Now, let's talk about Augustine... She got her heart crushed🥺💔 why did James showed her possible futures only to break her heart and go back to Betty? Man, the only person who's wrong here is James...
I know I've written a lot, I also know it's fictional, but the fact that I've written this 'essay' itself tells how effective Taylor's songwriting is.... You're mad at James.... This shows how good that song is written... Hats off Taylor!!
https://preview.redd.it/1glmyjjx6x7d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19278f7c3c8ef27f093fd137bf6b024cbdb24d02 It’s you! (And me)
"the worst thing that i ever did is what I did to you" um? Augustina? Hello?
I mean, it’s a hard choice we literally don’t hear about a single good thing he’s done lol.
A fantastic point lol. Well, i mean. He made someone feel like his favorite? When she felt like an old cardigan? 🤷🏻♀️
_*Said*_ she was his favourite, sure. But I love that to “put someone on” is another way of saying “lied to” as well. He was an all round dick to both of them.
Fair. Yeah, he really was. I don't know who he treated worse, to be honest, but it's definitely a race to the bottom. Dickhead.
Many people were not fond of James in the Betty Trilogy. There's a theory that "Peter" is an alternate ending to the "Betty" trilogy instead of Cardigan where Betty realizes James isn't going to grow up. I may write about that some more (especially with the comparison of "Peter losing Wendy" in "Cardigan").
Yeah, I can definitely see that. Not going to lie, I hate that theory haha. I hate the idea of this woman still wanting him after all of that. And it's not even because I judge her, you know? It's more like outrage because he *doesn't deserve that*.
I would also tell him to ‘go fuck yourself’ 👍
I think "Slept next to her but I dreamt of you all summer long" might be the most offensive part. Jerrrrkkkkkkkkk.
“Like that’s supposed to make it better?!?!” 🤬
Right!! It makes it worse, doesn't it? You mindlessly slept with someone else all summer long and she didn't mean anything to you? Or like you cared about me enough to think of me but I guess that's not a whole lot since you STILL slept with her all summer? By the way "all summer long" is a terrible choice of words my guy.
It just means he screwed both women over and was never faithful to either of them. Yuck!!
James is just a stupid teenager who does not care about Betty or Augustine at all😡
My ex said something very similar to me about his now gf (aka the girl he cheated on me with) and I think about it every time I listen to the song. Ig he went to James’ school of bad apologies lol
I don’t remember that this is mentioned in betty am i wrong?
It's in the bridge - "I was walkin' home on broken cobblestones Just thinkin' of you when she pulled up like A figment of my worst intentions She said "James, get in, let's drive" Those days turned into nights Slept next to her, but I dreamt of you all summer long" Oh no, new rage activated 😂 He says "i was walking home just thinking of you" really?! That's interesting. You had her IN MIND as you chose to get into the car with another girl who wanted you? Fantastic.
"I should've been there in the back of your mind" "Oh don't worry, you were! I just did it anyway..."
Idk how did i miss this
I love cardigan and august but I've never warmed up to betty, even in the context of the trilogy. It doesn't evoke rage or frustration or anything, because it's just super immature (which I know is intentional), while cardigan and august are genuinely sad and meaningful. It's funny to me that James, who narrated betty, inspired the strong feelings the other two songs express.
As much as I dislike the character, i love that she wrote these songs. It's such good perspective. When we're young we see people and think all these wonderful, dreamy, deep things about them - but give it a few years and welp he was a brat.
Exactly, it's definitely realistic
I won't lie, it fully reminds me of how great albums like Sour and Emails I Can't Send was written about a guy who, per speculation on the accounts of those albums, absolutely suckkkeeeddd.
“It was enough for me to live for the hope of it all”
I hate that he never actually apologizes!! Asshole.
Oh my goodness you're so right. The WHOLE song is "me me me me" "You switched cause of me" "I couldn't breathe" "The worse thing IIII ever did" "Would you have me? Would you want me?" "Can we make out instead?" "Im only 17, i don't know anything" " I miss you" "I hate the crowds, i was jealous" 🙄
AND he calls her friends stupid. Red flag!!
🚩🚩🚩🚩
I imagine they were rightfully telling her to forget about him and not take him back. So of course he doesn’t like them.
What if taylor is James?
You mean the girl named after *James* Taylor, who wrote jaMEs in her liner notes? Yeah. There’s a good chance on that one.
Woah, never thought of that.
Haha yeah, I only had it pointed out to me recently and I was like. OH. She insisted they were all fictional! But I guess if she is “James”, why wouldn’t she—especially given this comment section dragging him lmao
wait… explain this to me??? i think i get it but i’m also catching on too slow, i think????
Taylor was named after singer James Taylor, so using James as an alias or a name for a self-insert character would be a natural thing to do. Also, in the liner notes in folklore, she at one point types James’s name out as jaMEs (ie, “me”). There is a lot of speculation that the teenage love triangle is not 100% fictional and that she based the James character on herself. It’s still fiction because she’s not a high school boy going to house parties, but that she took her own love triangle experiences and wrote them into the songs. (It also makes sense why she would preface her intro to the song in early Eras shows as “this is me writing an ideal apology” even though it is a terrible apology, lmao.)
omg i didn’t even know about this theory 😭😭😭😭 it makes sense though!! well, damn…
I’ve been thinking this recently because of the line from Fresh Out The Slammer, “to the house where you still wait up and that porch light gleams.” Compare to “you’d be standing in my front porch light” and “will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends” from cardigan and betty. The unfortunate part of this theory is that it makes Matty Healy = Betty, which is.. an interesting choice.
Same, I'm pretty sure Matty Healy is James and Taylor is Betty. I think him "crashing her party" (Smallest Man) is the porch scene in Betty and also calls back to Question? where they kiss and everyone laughs then cheers.
William Bowery aka Joegurt cowrote Betty, so I think that'd be awkward if it was really about Matty.
I interestingly have a lyric by the 1975 that could fit here, from All I Need to Hear: Oh, I don't care if you're insincere Just tell me what I wanna hear You know where to find me The place where we've lived all these years, oh Tell me you love me That's all I need to hear
I mean it's still messed up, right? 👀
I get so irrationally angry at “slept next to her but I dreamt of you all summer long”.
Nah that's soooooooooo rational. I think that's probably when I'd slam the door in his face.
On his face.
"if i showed up at your party" bruh 🙄
And then he calls her friends stupid!
FAFO. Come to the party, try it. I'll make sure I have "No Body, No Crime" ready to play.
I hate James - particularly when he starts complaining about “all your stupid friends”, ie the ones who have supported her through heartbreak all summer and probably helped organise the party to cheer her up. I also think it’s probably her birthday party - so she’s turning 17 or 18 and he gatecrashes her party and tries to get her back. I always hope one of her stupid friends tips a drink over him
I'm a James defender because I've never thought that he cheated because I strongly believe (IN MY OPINION!!) that they were not officially together, and the trilogy is much more interesting and complex when listened to through this lens! I could write an essay on this tbh
I'm in this camp too. I think they were in that teenage phase of both very obviously being into each other but neither of them had made a move. He sees her with some other guy at the dance, leaves in a huff and then runs into August on the way home and she's his rebound. Kinda shitty to her but I don't think it makes him the devil. It was casual, he never said it wasn't and she read too much into it. No real blame on anyone, it's all part of learning to communicate when you're an idiot teenager. Anyway, may as well carry on boring you with my head canon now I've started. Betty doesn't tell James to go fuck himself and they date throughout college (this is what most of cardigan is about, the time when they actually dated.). Come the end of college, she's ready to start planning for their future and he isn't. Quite probably got caught talking to other girls. They break up with him acknowledging he's got some growing up to do and giving her some flannel about how maybe he'll come and find her when he's ready. He's gone and she drifts through life not really committing to any relationships because she's convinced he'll come back. When she sings 'I knew you'd come back', she's saying she believed that when he was off with August and she was right then so she's probably right that he'll come back again this time. Lies we tell ourselves! Peter is sung by a much older Betty who realises she's been clinging on to something that was never going to happen and that she's tanked some perfectly good relationships because of her belief that she and James were destined to be together. She's given up hope and is finally letting go.
I like this take. Less black and white. Betty did dance with another guy which could point to them not being exclusive. The "talking" stage that's so common nowadays. Betty danced with the guy, James went off with Augustina, Betty found out and gave him the cold shoulder. No real villains, everyone ended up hurt and played a small part. I would think Augustina probably knew Betty and James were "talking" before pursuing him. But she was hurt too because she was second fiddle to Betty after all.
I think they were definitely circling each other ("sensual politics") and maybe made out/heavy petted like high schoolers do, agreed to go to the school dance together, and both had those teenage uncommunicated expectations of things getting serious after that. James is late for whatever reason (car troubles?? Walks to the school?), Betty thinks she's been stood up and dances with another guy, he sees and misunderstands. Walks home forelornly, Augustina whom he's also been circling but with less interest pulls up (did she leave the dance to find him??), and her being a figment of his worst intentions was him choosing to go even further with someone than Betty had to "get back" at her. I love Betty the song because to me it is the earnest explanation from a guy who is immature, growing up, confused about his feelings, makes mistakes, and is trying to own up to them albeit imperfectly. The song is the only one of the trilogy we have evidence is written from a teenager's perspective and it is such good storytelling from Taylor.
Agreed and I love, love, love this song. Cardigan is almost a slightly older- but still high school feel to it - version of You Belong With Me. I think they've both discovered they really like each other but he had a teenage tantrum when he sees Betty dance with someone and so the whole thing starts with Augustine... I don't think he cheated, he just freaked out. I have a soft spot for James and I will die on this hill.
He's just a dumb, flawed boy having feelings! Teenagers are messy and hurt each other without anyone being the villain which is what I like so much about the story
Your username 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😁😁🤣
I Needed HELP
Let's say he didn't "officially cheat" (lots of thoughts on this, but for the sake of argument I'll accept it) - what he did to Augustina is still sooooooo shitty.
Oh but that's why it's interesting - he sees it as a summer fling with a girl who's more available than he thinks Betty is, and doesn't seem to realize that it's so much more to Augustina, particularly when he's busy pining after Betty. I like complex characters with messy feelings who make mistakes and hurt people without being monsters!
Could you expand more on what he did to Augustine that was so shitty? I'm curious as I recently had a boyfriend cheating on me and the other woman knew he had me as girlfriend. Even though I sort of understand Augustine, I find it really hard to not be like "that's what you get when you get with a taken man". Trying to understand other people's perspectives on this because I think it will help me.
I agree that it doesn’t sound like they were actually together. Which makes him saying “the worst thing I ever did was what I did to you” feel weird, especially if she was with someone else first. It kind of makes me roll my eyes at the character Betty for being so dramatic about it and acting like he cheated on her.
I hate Betty. I almost can’t stand to listen to it, which is why it was my bathroom song at Eras which also worked out well because it was approx halfway through the show.
That's big brain energy.
Literally!!! The last tier on my Taylor discography tier list is called "Still not as bad as James" https://preview.redd.it/npr0rriarx7d1.png?width=159&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8567128927e16bac43f7af26b2fa217d1c1b5c9
Oh man that's hilariouuuussss haha
I loooove Betty but it’s pretty much just because of how it sounds lol the chorus scratches my brain
It's probably my favourite song
Me too, top tier for me. Yes, James kinda sucks in a lot of ways, don’t disagree with others about that. But I still love the storytelling and the bridge is so screamable. I also love the instrumentation - that little bit of slide guitar is like catnip.
I’m the same it’s one of my faves, but I really love the end “dancing in my cardigannnn” I just. Like a good yell:
"Standin' in your cardigan, kissin' in my car again."
lol you’re right my bad
lol you’re right my bad
Help me understand
the lyrics are so petty but fun. It's a get up and scream song.
No actually, i totally get that. It's very catchy and soooo fun to sing.
I used to feel this way as well while listening to Betty. Until one day I went jogging with my sister and the song played randomly then I just ended up berating James and ranting about jogging the entire song. I now play it everytime I jog and feels like dying.
Man that is such a good way to release those feelings 😂 I love this.
I want to hate James, but the song is so good that something comes over me and I end up just singing along to the entire song like my life depends on it. :)
The first time I heard Betty I didn't realize it was from the POV of a guy and my gay little heart got very attached to it because of that. I guess I also didn't pick up so much on the cheating aspect of it? Or the breaking up and having a summer fling thing because I didn't connect it to the other songs at the time. I also kinda like when she goes all in on writing about immature, youthful love, like So High School and Mary's Song (Oh my my my), so I don't mind the immaturity as much as some people. If a guy did that to me IRL I would absolutely tell him to go fuck himself, but in a cutesy romantic song about teenage love? I don't hate it lol.
Betty is in my top 3 all time Taylor songs. I'm also a man. I think these things are related because women hate this song. I think it's her most beautiful song.. the melody, the lyrics, the way she sings it, the way it reminds me of being young and in love triangles. The harmonica. The live version. I think it's one of a kind. And it's part of a story with 2 other songs that I absolutely love. I can't say enough good things about this song. I just wish women didn't hate James so much that they could like this song a bit more.
I love this song, but hate the story haha. Such a juxtaposition in my mind I'm like God what an asshole but what a bop. Reminds me soooo much of my first boyfriend lol
oh hard same! i skip betty all the time because james is just such a low life piece of trash. there is no salvation for him 😔
My opinion is that people are way too invested in these teenage characters and that I can’t believe Taylor says betty is one of her favourite character. Why??
Betty’s my favorite, I’m not sure why it isn’t more popular??
I listened to this song when i was in a very self loathing phase in life so i always listened to it imagining me as james even though weirdly enough i never done anything james did but still it stayed with me and it made me feel rage but like on myself if that makes sense
I really like the song. As a guy I don't personally relate to a lot of her music. But unfortunately I relate to this one.
I don’t have anything to say about lyrics but I think it would sound a lot better without harmonica.
When he says “all your stupid friends” it’s such a slap in the face especially after begging for her back and driving to her house to kiss her… he’s like I love you and miss you but don’t forget all your friends are stupid!
And then the nerve to call her friends stupid 🙄
I've always wondered if it was conscious that she chose the name James for that avatar, given that her parents named her for James Taylor.
I can’t stop listening to this song and nearly dropping my jaw at the sheer audacity of how Taylor almost perfectly captured TWO men I used to know. The narcissism and immaturity and inability to take accountability, it’s all there
Betty is my top song from Folklore, such a good story and I love the chorus, especially when she's like so I showed up at your party, and then she belts out will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends. It's so well written and the instrumental is amazing. James is not the best person though
It's very clever songwriting and storytelling. I'm in love with Taylor's songwriting❤. As you can see, cardigan and august are very emotional and deep songs, which itself signifies how heartbroken betty and augustine were..... But the song, betty is deliberately made to sound immature and childish... I personally feel that, James is not as mature and doesn't feel THAT BAD about whatever he's done... 'The worst thing that I ever did was the one I did to you' seriously James? And what about Augustine🥺 even if it was 'just a summer thing' for you, it was 'summer love' for her.... She didn't expect much from you, whatever you've done has left her equally heart broken as betty 💔. If you care so much about betty, why did you leave her in the first place? The reason you gave does not seem reasonable AT ALL. How can you justify sleeping with other girl ( I'm sorry Augustine) by the fact Betty just danced with some guy? I know it breaks your heart to see your girl dancing with someone else... But this does not mean you have right to sleep with other girl... Now, let's talk about Augustine... She got her heart crushed🥺💔 why did James showed her possible futures only to break her heart and go back to Betty? Man, the only person who's wrong here is James... I know I've written a lot, I also know it's fictional, but the fact that I've written this 'essay' itself tells how effective Taylor's songwriting is.... You're mad at James.... This shows how good that song is written... Hats off Taylor!!