What is ‘betty’ by Taylor Swift about? Lyrics explained

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 assumptions
About why you switched your homeroom, but
I think it’s ’cause of me
Betty, one time, I was riding on my skateboard
When I passed your house
It’s like I couldn’t breathe

[Pre-Chorus]
You heard the rumors from Inez
You can’t believe a word she says
Most times, but this time, it was true
The worst thing that I ever did
Was what I did to you

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 2]
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

[Pre-Chorus]
You heard the rumors from Inez
You can’t believe a word she says
Most times, but this time, it was true
The worst thing that I ever did
Was what I did to you

[Chorus]
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

[Bridge]
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
[Verse 3]
Betty, I’m here on your doorstep
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

[Pre-Chorus]
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

[Chorus]
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

[Outro]
Standing in your cardigan
Kissin’ in my car again
Stopped at a streetlight
You 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.