9 hours ago
Is Barry Keoghan the 'Manchild' in Sabrina Carpenter's latest break-up track?
Sabrina Carpenter's new song Manchild, has been the source of much speculation since its release last week, with the rumour-mill in overdrive about whether the lyrics refer to her ex-boyfriend, Irish actor Barry Keoghan.
Carpenter, for her part, has been deliberately vague about who inspired the song, which includes choice lyrics such as:
' Man-child
Why you always come a-running to me?Fuck my lifeWon't you let an innocent woman be?
Never heard of self-care Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter were dating for some time.
Never heard of self-careHalf your brain just ain't thereMan-child
Why you always come a-running, taking all my loving from m e.'
Instead, the American sweetheart posted something opaque, just enough, to both calm and swell the divide over the subject of the song.
While some quarters are resolute in their belief that Manchild is in fact about Dublin actor Barry Keoghan, another half are equally convinced the song is about 'ALL MEN'. BARRY Keoghan, Sabrina Carpenter
'It's not just about one man, it's all ALL MEN,' shrieked one particularly omnipotent fan.
But Carpenter isn't the first artist to be mysteriously vague about a former flame, who either inspired or incensed them, to the extent that they were compelled to memorialise their relationship in song.
Indeed the mystique behind the music can be a very useful tool for fans to invest in the song and keep it in the charts.
By blurring the lines about the boy behind the lyrics, Carpenter is helping keep Manchild in the charts and on people's playlists, as they seek to dissect every single word and chord to see if they can decipher some unwritten enigma. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 05: Barry Keoghan attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by)
While others have more to be doing with their time, the very fact is, that this is a very smart industry trick that has played out to super success for decades.
The unarguable maestro of the anonymous 'man-in-music' is American singer Carly Simon, whose iconic track You're so Vain is still a talking point.
In fact, now over a half a century since Carly Simon's You're so Vain 1972 release, people are still divided on who is so vain they merited being immortalised in musical lore. Warren Beatty
Hollywood actor Warren Beatty, who Simon had been dating around the time she penned the track, has been in the frame since the song first entered the pop charts way back in 1972.
Despite being perpetually peppered to put to rest the speculation, it took Carly Simon a full forty years to give a confirmation of-sorts, telling the publication People in a 2015 interview, 'I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren', but she said the other verses refer to two other men.
Until this very day, over 60 years after the release of You're So Vain, Simon still hasn't divulged the identity of the other two vain chaps she chirps about in the song.
So poor Barry Keoghan may have to wait a very long time if he suspects this song is about him; or not.
