#jamesaugust

in celebration of the folktale in folklore pt.6 (and how taylor swift inexplicably wrote a musical in my head) I imagine the next songs as more metaphoric and dreamlike as we jump out of the main narrative and into betty and james’ future. hoax represents the trials and the valleys of their relationship. Their back and forth here is abstract, muddled, and scattered given that it’s an amalgamation of all their woes. But despite all of that, they continue to accept each other’s love. the lakes represents their triumphs and the peaks of their relationship. They find peace in their escape. In many ways, rumors and gossip was the main root of their problems. Finally getting away and just being with each other was what helped heal their scars. And finally, we go back to the beginning with a reprise of the 1. This time, it’s completely in august’s perspective. I love the idea of this for two main reasons. For one, it shows how cyclical folklore is and how easily you can just listen to it again and again and it just gets better and better. Secondly, it concludes the story of our third main character. In summary, folklore is really good. Apart from just genuinely loving listening to each individual song, it’s so much fun to go deep into the folklorian woods and just live within betty, august, and james’ story. Sometimes playing a song or an album on repeat, it can get stale over time. But with a story that is so specific yet so malleable, it’s a new and wonderful experience every time. Happy one year anniversary folklore!

in celebration of the folktale in folklore pt.2 (and how taylor swift inexplicably wrote a musical in my head) The main action of the folktale is set in the fall. As we move to next song, exile, we go to the first flashback within the narrative; back to Spring formal. betty wants to dance. But james is nowhere to be found. He hates the crowds, she knows that. So she finds someone else. This perceived betrayal is what I imagined to be what prompts her mother to tell Rebekah’s story. This was betty’s bold choice and she wanted to impress upon her to own it. james was falling short of her desires. If james really isn’t the one, then she has the right to move on. After james confronts her outside the gym, he storms off. He goes into the woods where he recalls his childhood, growing up alongside betty. It’s also a great moment to insert the album’s cover. Just imagine a stage with the black and white woods as the background. Having it be a video too, instead of a still image, is also a nice nod to the repeated motif of films throughout the album. my tears ricochet becomes james’ soliloquy. Set up the scene mirroring betty’s cardigan. The song may start about betty, but it quickly recounts his childhood trauma due to his abusive father. I think these two events in james’ life become intertwined because these were when he felt the most heartbroken and betrayed. The idea of james having this trauma is alluded to more clearly in seven. The trigger for me that connected this idea to this song was the lyric “stolen lullabies.” I think we all know what that really refers to, but it can also be interpreted as stolen childhood, stolen innocence. james leaves with his mother. But on some level james’ father still loves him. He fights for shared custody and wins. At what cost? Even with james still around for the summer, he resents him. There are no winners. But this particular summer with his father is different. There was a girl who pulled up in front of his house and told him to get into her car. mirrorball becomes august’s introduction to james. I imagine her taking him to the mall ice rink because I can’t help thinking of Christmas time with the sleigh bells in the song. The image of august spinning on her tallest tiptoes on ice was also very clear in my mind. This was james’ childhood home though. Where he grew up with betty before they both moved away. august tries to desperately to keep him, but all he can think about is betty…

in celebration of the folktale in folklore pt.3 (and how taylor swift inexplicably wrote a musical in my head) As james spends his summer in his childhood home, he is reminded of growing up with betty in seven. He reminisces about their adventures in the woods and afternoon tea parties with betty’s late father. I liked the idea of this song being a tribute to the time they spent with him because it also pointedly references james’ abusive father. seven also has the lyric that I misheard right from my first listen that ended up perfectly fitting the narrative. I always heard “any time I wanted” as “betty’s all I wanted.” The song closes with betty and james’ final time together before reuniting later in high school, “Our love lasts so long” foreshadowing their reunion. august continues to try and distract james, but as summer draws to a close, he slips away. In august, james has to say goodbye. In the first chorus, august compels james to recall all the time they spent together in hopes it would make him stay. But when james takes over in the second chorus, he shows that that’s all he can do, recall. Their time together was just something to look back on now. The bridge in august becomes a duet that parallels the one in exile. Having james himself say “meet me behind the mall” is so much more devastating. It further shows how complicit both of them are in their summer romance even if james thought that it was all he wanted. With fall semester beginning, james returns home. It becomes clear to him that rumors of his summer affair has circulated around the school. But in this is me trying, all he wants to do is get back with betty. Here we also get another allusion to the porch scene that will play out later…

in celebration of the folktale in folklore pt.1 (and how taylor swift inexplicably wrote a musical in my head) It is the nature of a folktale to continuously transform and mutate as it passes from one person to another. Before the release of folklore, she called on listeners to pass down the stories she had so meticulously crafted within the album. Among them is the ever enduring tale of a love triangle told in three songs. On their own, the trilogy is already an incredible achievement in storytelling. But because of the strong thematic coherence of the entire album, all the other songs on the album enriches the story arc of august, betty, and james. After listening to folklore countless of times, a cohesive narrative started to form in my head that would play like a movie. At some point I took it even further and imagined it as a musical. This may have partly been inspired by my other quarantine obsession, Hamilton. Specifically, the sequence and staging of Helpless and Satisfied. If you follow the narrative throughout folklore, you encounter several time jumps and clear imagery that repeats and foreshadows. As if time is skipping backwards and forwards. This is ultimately how I’m choosing to pass her story down. Maybe it’s unique, maybe it’s not. I just wanted to share because I think for me, it illicit a very strong and emotional response and I hope others could experience it as well. I also don’t want to lose the memory of it so I wanted to put it down in writing. The following details loosely how I imagine the first three songs. I say loosely hopefully to also try and make the experience as unique to the listener as possible. The story begins, appropriately, with the 1. Like a prologue of a Greek Tragedy, it introduces us to the premise and to our three main characters. This then is followed by betty’s soliloquy in cardigan. Set in the fall, this is after betty discovers james’ summer fling. The next song, the last great american dynasty, was one of two songs I struggled the most with to fit in the narrative because it’s so tied to who Taylor herself is. Ultimately, it functions as a great embedded narrative. A story within the story. I imagined it to be a folktale betty’s mom narrates to console her. She describes all the bold and extravagant choices Rebekah made throughout her life. The townsfolk may not have seen her in the best light, but she lived her life anyway. And things wouldn’t be the same if she hadn’t made those choices. All this to tell betty to be proud and own all of the bold choices she made in her relationship with james, no matter if it is perceived to be wrong or not. the last great american dynasty is also my favorite sequence to visualize. I imagine it to be a grand set piece with a chorus of townsfolk singing parts of the song, their gossip stitching together Rebekah’s story. What is gossip if not the exchange of and proliferation of folktales, right? There would be dancers and the rotating stage would be spinning wildly counterclockwise. I can hear a full orchestra and band with raucous horns and bombastic strings. Transitioning to the next song, I think it’s a great juxtaposition going from this big choral dance number to a haunting duet during the spring formal…….

in celebration of the folktale in folklore pt.4 (and how taylor swift inexplicably wrote a musical in my head) Before we see what james does to win betty back, we flashback again to the summer of secret romances in illicit affairs. betty sings of the stranger she’s been pouring her heart to while james and august sing to each other. All three are fully aware that what they’re doing is wrong. But all seem to feel justified in the act because ultimately everybody deserves to feel and to be loved. By the bridge, it takes us back to the conclusion of august with james leaving august. The words cut deep because she fell deeply in love with him but to him it was just a summer thing. As betty and james find their bearings after a whirlwind summer apart, they reflect on the beginnings of their relationship. In invisible string, they flashback to when they reconnect after years apart. betty and her mother had moved to LA after her father’s passing (or Rhode Island if you want to tie the location to the Holiday House). They have a chance encounter at a yogurt shop where james starts to work at. The song details their courtship and how they went from childhood best friends into high school sweethearts. The little overt references to Taylor herself take you a bit out of the narrative since they are nonsensical to the story. But I think they still serve as an anchor to its original storyteller. We also get a small flashforward here that hints at james and betty’s future together… But before we get there, we return to the fall, specifically when betty learns of james’ summer affair in mad woman.

in celebration of the folktale in folklore pt.5 (and how taylor swift inexplicably wrote a musical in my head) The night before james goes to betty’s house, he is left with not much rest dreaming of her in epiphany. The next morning, we arrive at the porch scene. betty starts with james woefully playing the harmonica as he practices his speech. I like to imagine that he starts singing some notes off-key while he’s still finding his words. It’s a great little summary too of the narrative as he references the Spring Formal and his initial encounter with august. james initially avoids any direct mention of her but then decides to go into more detail. But then goes in to too much detail with “slept next to her” and then tries to save it with the next line. I love imagining him just biting his tongue and cringing at his own words. But then he’s finally back in the moment and it’s now or never and he knocks on the door. betty opens the door, and he delivers his speech. He appropriately calls her friends “lovely” (even seeing Inez among them) and becomes more poetic as he beholds her and then she comes to him and kisses him. Seconds later? Years later? Works either way… betty and james sit together on a porch bench. Maybe they’ve just had an argument and they reflect on all their history together in peace. Here they both lay out their flaws and ask each other, despite all their baggage and their chaos, would it be enough? I also really like the idea of each of them singing the chorus to each other. betty and james are aware of their mistakes. They mutually found that the other had shortcomings and they both sought for those missing things in other lovers. But isn’t it lovely to think that in the end, they return to each other and finally accept each other’s flaws…