"Betty" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eighth studio album, Folklore (2020).

It was written by Swift and Joe Alwyn (under the pseudonym William Bowery), and the former produced the track with Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff.

The single was certified gold by Music Canada (MC) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift conceived her eighth studio album, Folklore, while quarantining amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, with producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner of the National.

[4] She stated that, one day, she heard Alwyn "singing the entire, fully formed chorus... from another room" and asked if they could write a song together while in quarantine, which eventually became "Betty".

In the primer that preceded the release, Swift teased imageries of various tracks, with "Betty" being about "a seventeen-year-old standing on a porch, learning to apologize".

[b] Hannah Mylrea of NME commented the track combines country with folk rock,[16] the genre that Taila Lee from the Recording Academy also associated "Betty" with.

Vulture's Justin Curto said it harkens back to the guitar-pop sound of the alternative rock band Sixpence None the Richer in the 1990s,[18] whereas Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone compared the harmonica solo to that in Bruce Springsteen's 1975 song "Thunder Road".

He apologizes about his past mistakes but does not fully own up to them, citing his disdain of crowds and Betty's "wandering eye" as excuses.

[d] For Variety's Chris Willman and Esquire's Dave Holmes, the song exemplifies Folklore's fictional narratives departing from Swift's previously known autobiographical songwriting;[20] the latter deemed it the album's centerpiece.

[34] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said that "Betty", alongside the two other tracks also addressing the fictional love triangle narrative, constituted Folklore's three best songs.

[35] The Atlantic's critic Spencer Kornhaber lauded how the "suspenseful" storytelling made him "stand up and put [his] hands on [his] head while waiting for it to end".

[29] Finn McRedmond of The Irish Times praised the narrative of "Betty" as captivating as a feature film and wrote that by the end of the track, "only then do you realise how catchy the melody is".

[37] Ellen Johnson of Paste named the track as one of the best country songs of 2020, stating that it proves Swift's empathy "truly knows no bounds", being written from the point of view of a "regretful" teenage boy.

[42] It is Swift's 22nd to reach the top ten on Hot Country Songs and marked the highest debut for a woman since Bebe Rexha's "Meant to Be" (2017).

[43] After its country-radio single release on August 17, 2020, it was the most added track of the week on Mediabase-monitored country radio stations.

[54][55] Seated in front of a glowing stage light, she performed the clean version on a black Gibson acoustic guitar and was accompanied by one harmonica player.