I HAVE A FOLKLORE THEORY
what if the actual fantasy element of folklore is specifically the events that occur in at the end of betty?? as in, james was with someone else that summer despite loving betty, but instead of going back to betty and showing up to her party, james chose the more mature option of not going back to betty because they both knew how it would end, theyβve seen this movie before... cardigan/betty/august are fictional because they exist in an imagined reality, different from the other songs on the album.Β
disclaimer: (i believe james represents taylor and her role in this story, but it is up to speculation so iβll just stick with speaking about james as the character in folklore,, jamesβs gender doesnβt really matter to me since it is a character, but iβll use he/him pronouns for the sake of this post)
the 1 (bettyβs pov):
βI guess you never know, never knowβ
...[what would have happened if you came back]
βAnd if you wanted me, you really should've showedβ
see betty: βSo I showed up at your party...β -- james didnβt end up showing, this did not happen
βAnd if you never bleed, you're never gonna growβ
see cardigan:Β βYou drew stars around my scars / But now I'm bleedin'β andΒ βI knew you / Tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendyβ -- in the alternate reality, betty was the only one bleeding, so she grew because of it, and thatβs why she is Wendy. james never bled, so james was Peter who never grew up.Β
see peace:Β βOur coming-of-age has come and goneβ --Β this line suggests that they BOTH in fact grew up (OUR coming-of-age), so neither of them could be Peter. --Β βSuddenly this summer, it's clear / I never had the courage ofβ myβ convictions / As long asβ danger is nearβ -- the summer is the same season as the love triangle setting, another sign itβs the same people. these lines depict james essentially backing down from something he really wanted to do out of fear. this seems to be a reference the decision NOT to go to bettyβs party last minute, even after planning for months.Β
βAnd it's alright nowβ
this is simply acceptance of the situation, they have separated for good.
betty (lead up to the party):
...About why you switched your homeroom... Betty,β one time Iβ was riding on my skateboard...Β You heard the rumors from Inez... The worst thing that I ever did /Β Was what I did to youΒ
pay attention here to the tense usage in verse 1 and the pre-chorus. clearly all the statements in these stanzas are in the past and happen during the summer james was with someone else or between then and now.
But if I just showed up at your party Would you have me? Would you want me? Would you tell me to go fuck myself Or lead me to the garden? In the garden, would you trust me If I told you it was just a summer thing? I'm only seventeen, I don't know anything But I know I miss you
in looking at the lyrics of the chorus, it is clear here that weβre still in theΒ βlead upβ phase. james is DAYDREAMING the possibilities of what could happen *IF* he just showed up at bettyβs party.Β
Betty, I know where it all went wrong Your favorite song was playing From the far side of the gym I was nowhere to be found I hate the crowds, you know that Plus, I saw you dance with him
in verse 2, james is recounting another event which he claims to have led to him doingΒ βthe worst thing that [james] ever did,β betraying betty. it is clearly serving as a background story that occurred a long time ago. theΒ βdanceβ withΒ βhimβ is very likely the same story as in the first lines of exile,Β βI can see you standing, honey / With his arms around your bodyβ
I was walking home on broken cobblestones Just thinking 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
the bridge is simply a continuationΒ of the story begun in verse 2. james left the dance after seeing betty withΒ βhim.β on his way home, he runs intoΒ βherβ who iβll call august, and then their summer affair begins. again, this is long in the past now.
betty (verse 3):Β
Betty, I'm here on your doorstep
this line appears to be referencing the same moment asΒ this is me trying:Β βAnd maybe I don't quite know what to say / But I'm here in your doorwayβ however, in this is me trying, which is the main/real plot line, james just says,Β βI just wanted you to know that this is me trying.β with other clues from that song, this statement means james is trying his best to move on and mature in life, catch up with his classmates after the huge setback of losing betty.
i believe james is trying, although struggling, to accept the end of this relationship forever because of his actions.Β the line βI didn'tβ knowβ if you'd careβ if I came back / I have aβ lot of regrets about thatβ suggests theΒ βregretsβ are because james chose to not come back because he assumed, possibly wrongfully, that she didnβt want him to. (i discuss the bridge of this is me trying after finishing verse 3 interpretation)
And I planned it out for weeks now But it's finally sinkin' in Betty, right now is the last time I can dream about what happens when You see my face again
these lines, in my opinion, best showcased the idea in peaceβs first verse as discussed earlier:Β βSuddenly this summer, it's clear / I never had the courage ofβ myβ convictions / As long as danger is near.β the fact this feeling of anticipation and nervousness ahead of the reunion with betty required an entire verse to communicate shows exactly how intense the feelings are.Β
The feelings may be internal or external pressures (societal standards and injustices, being in the public eye, and more) which create anxiety in a person. in the rest of the first verse of peace, she reveals the danger isΒ βjust aroundβ the corner, darlin' / 'Cause it lives in me,β supporting the idea that these fears and anxieties are a part of taylorβs/jamesβs psyche regardless of the cause of them. the second verse of this is me trying begins withΒ βThey told me all of my cages were mental /Β So I got wasted like all my potential,β which is also consistent with the idea that anxieties are the root of big mistakes.
this is me trying (bridge):
And it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound
aversion to parties/crowds is similar to verse 2 in betty, another indication it is the same people/events. feeling like an open wound is a callback to the 1, βAnd if you never bleed, you're never gonna growβ and betty saying sheβs βbleedingβ in cardigan, βYou drew stars around my scars / But now I'm bleedin'.β
this connection is very important because it proved, as i noted from peace, that BOTH betty and james ended up bleeding, contrary to the accounts in cardigan. BOTH of them were forced by circumstances to accept their permanent separation. therefore, the events in betty didnβt go as they seemed.Β
It's hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you You're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town
james is missing betty intensely, just like in betty. the movie comparison brings in several songs to the same general story (in tracklist order):Β
the 1:Β βI hit the Sunday matinΓ©e / You know the greatest films of all time were never madeβ -- during a daytime film viewing, betty remarks that no films she could watch would ever be the GREATEST. as a parallel to a later lyric,Β βWe never painted by the numbers, baby / But we were making it count / You know the greatest loves of all time are over now,β we know betty thinks of this love story as the greatest of all time, even though itβs over.
cardigan:Β βI knew you / Tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendyβ i already discussed these lines above, but again the idea that james was unsuccessful in the attempt get back together with betty. james had to become Wendy too, and grow up and move on.
exile:Β βI think I've seen this film before / And I didn't like the endingβ the constant comparison of this relationship to tragic films feeds the idea that the relationship was doomed from the start. in cardigan, james tries to change the ending in the hope that love will prevail over all. but in the more grounded reality of folklore such as exile, the pair are hyperaware of how that ending will inevitably happen too them too.Β βI think I've seen this film before / So I'm leaving out the side door,β so it was time to end it.
hoax:Β βYou knew the hero died so what's the movie for?β here, it is almost a regret about beginning the relationship at all. it was obvious what the ending would be, theyβve seen this film before...but that doesnβt stop them from pursuing it anyways and trying to change the ending for themselves. with a different ending, it would be the greatest film of all time. this is whyΒ βDon't want no other shade of blue but you / No other sadness in the world would doβ -- this love, although it is a tragedy, is the greatest. and nothing else is good enough.
betty (final):Β
The only thing I wanna do Is make it up to you So I showed up at your party Yeah, I showed up at your party
the final pre-chorus reads like the beginning of a Disney movie or a folk tale even, almost as aΒ βOnce upon a time, there was a boy named James with one goal and it was to make up for his mistakes....β there should be an ellipsis (β...β) after the second line, creating a divide as the music begins to change and the story moves from reality to fantasy. the key change in the music confirms the transition to an imagined world where fears and anxieties and pressures didnβt get in the way of the greatest love of all time.
Yeah, I showed up at your party Will you have me? Will you love me? Will you kiss me on the porch In 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 anything But I know I miss you
typically, if a story is leading up to a character finally making a move, there is a payoff for the audience, revealing what ended up happening. in this case, it is still questions. it is still james brainstorming possibilities, still using the wordΒ βif.β the chorus concludes with the sameΒ βi know i miss you,β which doesnβt suggest any real progress from the beginning because there has to be distance still if james is still missing betty. however, theΒ βwouldβs changed toΒ βwillβs, leading the listener to think james actually did manage to show up, maybe the fantasy is even fooling james himself.
Standing in your cardigan Kissin' in my car again
these lines in the outro of betty have a double meaning: james is either in a haze from happiness because of the reunion with betty or is dreaming about these things happening.
in cardigan, she sings:Β βTo kiss in cars and downtown bars /Β Was all we neededβ THESE LINES ALSO HAVE A DOUBLE MEANING:Β βall we neededβ can both signal relief from the tension, as in, kissing again solved all their problems from before, OR it means βthat was all we needed to fix us,β as in, we couldnβt or didnβt kiss in these places, so weβre exactly where we started: a romantic tragedy. this means the downtown bar is likely the party or a symbolic equivalent.
The first meaning of both of those lines was the one that occurred within the fictional/fantasy world. The second meaning, is the reality of what happened because JAMES ENDED UP NOT SHOWING UP TO THE PARTY.
Stopped at a streetlight You know I miss you
theΒ βstreetlightβ seems to be significant imagery here. in cardigan,Β βBut I knew you / Dancin' in your Levi's /Β Drunk* under a streetlightβ -- this might be a spot of a fond memory that is triggered for james while he is driving by it, reminiscing on that time.Β
also not on folklore, but in cornelia street,Β βWe were in the backseat / Drunk* on something stronger than the drinks in the bar / The streetlights pointed in an arrowhead / Leading us home.β this cornelia street line seems to be describing a very similar story as cardigan. if so, this supports the idea that james was driving by this streetlight, the location of a very happy memory, and it makes him remember how much he misses her.
the repetition ofΒ βi miss youβ here makes it clear james never was successful in getting back this love with betty. and betty knows he misses her:Β βI knew you'd miss me once the thrill expiredβ
I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired And you'd be standin' in my front porch light And I knew you'd come back to me You'd come back to me And you'd come back to me And you'd come back
the fade out in this last chorus also seems to have implies ellipses after eachΒ βyouβd come backβ line because just like the final pre-chorus of betty, there is a hopeful fantasy here. almost likeΒ βyouβd come back ... youβd come back to me... right?β but as we know from this is me trying, the only communication was that james is trying his best to move on and to be more mature. betty knows it is for the best.Β
IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, YOUβRE A TROOPER OMG THIS WAS MUCH LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED IβM SO SORRY. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED. IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS, PLEASE SHARE THEM ILYYY. @taylorswift @taylornation
