You Weren’t Mine to Lose: a Theory Connecting “Betty” to “Miss Americana”

Swifties have been accused of perhaps being too invested in Taylor Swift’s music, but seeing fans’ passionate engagement with Swift and her music as they sleuth through lyrics and easter eggs to find hints about what Blondie might have up her sleeve is one of the best parts of being in a fandom.

Around the time of folklore’s surprise 2020 release, Swift alluded to a “teenage love triangle” narrative on the album, but never confirmed which songs make up the triptych. It didn’t take Swifties long, however, to become fairly certain that tracks “Cardigan”, “August”, and “Betty” tell the story Swift mentioned.

And although the album has been out for almost two years, and in that time, the puzzle’s been mostly solved (or so we think), I can’t help but wonder — Is it possible that we’ve met these characters before? And is it possible that we knew how the story ended before we even knew it began?

Here’s my theory:

The characters in the folklore love triangle are actually first introduced to us in “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” off 2019’s Lover. And I know, I know, “Miss Americana” is about Swift’s political activism following the election of Donald Trump and it’s all an allegory. But just humor me for a bit.

Let’s meet our cast of characters.

Betty, who we hear on “Cardigan”, is also our narrator on “Miss Americana”. She is Miss Americana, the archetypal good girl who is kind, likable, and seemingly has it all. Betty is 16 when the story begins, is dating James who is a year above her, and together they make up the it couple of that high school.

James is 17, star of the football team, handsome and charming, and dating Betty. They’ve known each other their entire lives and grew into their relationship from childhood friends. I look at “It’s Nice to Have A Friend” as an alternate version of their story, a happier version where they end up together.

Inez, who is the same year as James, represents the other side of the female archetype as the temptress or “other woman.” Fans have been referring to the third perspective as Augustine after the song, but I think this person is Inez from “betty” who spreads the rumor of her summer with James. I imagine Inez doesn’t come from the best home life, so she makes up stories about her life and the lives of her classmates. But Inez isn’t a villain in this story, as we find out she’s her own person with her own story.

So what happened?

It was prom night and of course, Betty and James went together as expected. But in the days leading up to the big dance, James started to get cold feet and began to distance himself from Betty.

At the dance, James was distant and cold with Betty so she danced with her friends while James hung out on the sidelines. He watched her dance to her favorite song and it hurt because he just wasn’t sure about the relationship anymore. He was going to be graduating and off to college in the next year, and Betty had one year left in high school.

He went outside for some air and when the song ended, Betty looked around to find that James was gone.

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 (“betty”)

Because this is from James’ perspective, I’m not sure if him thinking that he saw Betty dancing with someone else is real or if it’s an attempt to explain why he left.

James was walking home from the dance when a car pulled up beside him. It was Inez offering him a ride, which he accepted.

I was walking home on broken cobblestones/Just thinking of you when she pulled up like/A figment of my worst intentions (“betty”)

For reasons we can only speculate, Inez and James embarked on a secret summer romance.

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 (“betty”)

For Inez’s part, told to us in “August”, we see that she was not the seductress that James painted her to be in his apology to Betty. In fact, James finds out all of Inez’s stories were just stories and she wasn’t as experienced as the rumors claimed.

Salt air, and the rust on your door/I never needed anything more/Whispers of “Are you sure?”/”Never have I ever before” (“august”)

She spent that summer so devoted to him that she’d wait around all day for his call, so excited to have been chosen by him.

For me, it was enough/To live for the hope of it all/Cancel plans just in case you’d call/And say, “Meet me behind the mall” (“august”)

While Inez was waiting for his call, James had gone back to Betty to make things right, but couldn’t give up seeing Inez so he’d tell them both everything he thought they wanted to hear — that he loved them and that he wanted to be with them without telling either girl about the other.

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan/Under someone’s bed/You put me on and said I was your favorite (“cardigan”)

Inez truly believed they had fallen in love that summer and believed him when he said that she meant as much to him as he did to her.

I remember thinkin’ I had you (“august”)

But when the summer ended and James broke things off with Inez for good, she felt foolish and blamed herself for believing that a guy like James would choose a girl like her over a girl like Betty.

So much for summer love and saying “us”/’Cause you weren’t mine to lose/You weren’t mine to lose (“august”)

When school began again in the fall, James was starting his senior year and Betty was right by his side, hand in hand. But Inez knew what happened that summer and was angry, both at James for the way he treated her and at Betty for walking through the halls like nothing had happened. So Inez began to tell her story.

You heard the rumors from Inez/You can’t believe a word she says/Most times but this time it was true (“betty”)

When the rumors finally reached Betty, it felt like she had been sucker punched in the stomach. She broke up with James and switched her homeroom so she wouldn’t have to see him. But then the stares and rumors started, and soon getting out of bed and going to school where she might see either of them became too much, so her parents decided to pull her out of school for a while. For the first week, she was just floating from room to room in her house, replaying the summer over and over in her head, wondering where it all went wrong. She destroyed all mementos she had of James, including her dress from that dreaded night of the prom.

American glory faded before me/Now I’m feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

She tried to find some logical reason why James had done this to her, but this wasn’t the James she knew, or thought she knew. The James she loved wouldn’t have done something like this, so maybe the James that lived in her memories wasn’t the real him and she didn’t know him at all.

But I knew you/Dancin’ in your Levi’s/Drunk under a streetlight..

But I knew you/Playing hide-and-seek and/Giving me your weekends, (“cardigan”)

To kiss in cars and downtown bars/Was all we needed/You drew stars around my scars/But now I’m bleedin’ (“cardigan”)

In her grief, she began to lose herself and started trying to fix what she thought must have be broken. She traded her bright, colorful clothing for darker hues and her sensible sneakers for too high heels that make her feel powerful. She decided to throw herself into her schoolwork and focus on being accepted into a prestigious university.

Vintage tee, brand new phone/High heels on cobblestones

Sequin smile, black lipstick/ Sensual politics (“cardigan”)

After a few weeks, Betty started to feel like herself again, having rid herself of any affection she once had for James. That is until one night when Betty was spending time with some friends from school and James appeared on her doorstep to win her back. He tried to explain and threw Inez under the bus in the process, not taking any responsibility for his part that summer.

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 (“betty”)

When it looks like flattery and telling Betty what he though she wanted to hear, things like “I miss you” and “I dreamt of you all summer long”, weren’t getting him anywhere, he decided to show some vulnerability.

Betty, right now is the last time/ I can dream about what happens when/You see my face again/The only thing I wanna do/is make it up to you (“betty”)

Betty, knowing James, knew that this was going to happen, that he’d come crawling back.

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 (“cardigan”)

I’ve seen other people say they don’t think Betty takes him back, but I think she does because despite everything, she still loves him.

Standing in your cardigan/kissin’ in my car again (“cardigan”)

Which brings us to “Miss Americana”

Betty returns to school, to her picture-perfect life, and with James by her side, their reputation restored to its former glory. But she’s still angry with him. She starts to feel guilty that she isn’t happier and is worried that something is wrong with her because having everything she could ever want doesn’t stop her from being angry. As the world continues to move around her, she feels stuck.

You know I adore you, I’m crazier for you/Than I was at 16, lost in a film scene/Waving homecoming queens, marching band playing/I’m lost in the lights (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

As James and Betty walk down the hallway like high school royalty, Betty again hears the whispers behind them, but realizes they’re not whispering about her, but about Inez.

It’s you and me, that’s my whole world/They whisper in the hallway, “She’s a bad, bad girl” (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

Betty realizes that while James has been forgiven by their friends and classmates, Inez is left to bear the backlash of hers and James’ actions alone.

I see the high fives between the bad guys

Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

Betty looks around and finally sees the high school politics, which she used to base her self-worth in, for what it is — performance at best, harmful at worst.

The whole school is rolling fake dice/You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

While the whole school may have fallen for James’ telling of events, Betty sees how Inez’s reputation has been ruined, but James faces no repercussions and this makes her even more resentful towards James. Even when they’re out together, their relationship is strained and distant but their classmates still see them as madly in love.

We’re so sad, we paint the town blue/Voted most likely to run away with you (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

Tired of feeling like her life is a lie, Betty finally confronts James and tells him she’s done. They’d been fighting ever since they got back together about trust and being together just for appearances and Betty’s tired of fighting. She doesn’t want to let him go, but she knows it’s better than being bitter so she decides to break it off then and there.

And I don’t want you to (Go), I don’t really wanna (Fight)/‘Cause nobody’s gonna (Win) (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

James, scared of losing her (and his reputation), counters that he knows they can work it out and get through it and that he wants to work through it because he’s truly sorry and he loves her. Always telling her exactly what she wants to hear.

And I’ll never let you (Go) ’cause I know this is a (Fight)/That someday we’re gonna (Win) (“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

I like to think Betty of learning from when she took him back before and instead choosing herself this time. So maybe this time when she’s walking down the hallway alone and they’re whispering about her, it’s because we know that any woman who chooses herself over a man is a “bad, bad girl.”