The songs are timeless: they are always available to us, waiting for us to listen to and sing them. However, there are some compositions that, due to their theme, are tied to a specific day, month or period.
This type of theme comes alive year after year, and there are plenty of examples of this. The most obvious ones are the Christmas carols; the iconic All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey or Last Christmas by Wham!, which top the charts during Christmas.
It also happens with specific days. There is 20 de enero by La Oreja de Van Gogh or Yo te esperaré by the Colombian duo Cali & el Dandee, a song inseparable from its verse “7 de septiembre, la llamada que llegaría”.
Now, with the month of August just begun, comes the dominance of august, the song by Taylor Swift included in her eighth studio album, folklore (2020). In it, the American artist narrates a story of summer heartbreak.
What ‘august’ by Taylor Swift is about
Taylor Swift composed a love trilogy in folklore made up of three songs: cardigan, august , and betty. In summary, the story recounts the process of love, betrayal, and regret from a boy who experiences a romantic fling with a girl who is not his partner.
Each of the songs is narrated from the perspective of each character. In the case of august, the protagonist is the second girl, the third part of the relationship who reflects on her experiences with the boy while lamenting that everything has come to an end.
You were never mine to lose
“I can see us twisting in sheets / August came and went like a bottle of wine / Because you were never mine“, goes the chorus. Even more well-known is the bridge of the song, the last verse before the final chorus. It goes: “When we were still changing for the better / Wanting was enough / For me, it was enough / Living for the hope of it all / Cancelling my plans just in case you call / […] / Because you were never mine to lose”.
The ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ of August
Since Taylor Swift released the song in 2020, the artist’s fans have made it a tradition to listen to august in August. That’s why, at the start of the month, many fans of the American artist share the song on their social networks and listen to it as if it were a Christmas carol.
This has led to august being one of the most highly regarded songs from Swift’s eighth album, as well as one of the most listened to tracks. According to a profile on X (formerly Twitter) about music statistics, “august is the folklore most sold song weekly“.
This ritual by Taylor’s followers also causes every August for the song to regain its presence in the lists of most listened to songs at a global level on Spotify. And all without it even being a single from the album and without a music video.
A song for “the girls”
On social media, august is considered an anthem for “the girls”. Specifically, for the girls who “once felt like the second choice, those who always end up feeling alone, those who give everything for the other person but it still doesn’t work. […] Those who love with their heart and will always be there,” as one user writes on X.
And, like all traditions, this one is also dominated by memes on social media. Because hope is everything, but humor is too.