Is ‘Manchild’ by Sabrina Carpenter About Barry Keoghan? Here’s What She Said About the Lyrics

Who knew the song of the summer would be a breakup anthem? Sabrina Carpenter fans, probably.

After all, the “Espresso” singer was teasing a new song called “Manchild” on cheeky billboards before its release on June 5, causing many fans to speculate about the contents of a potential Barry Keoghan diss track. ICYMI: the 26-year-old pop star famously dated the 32-year-old Irish actor for a year before their split in December 2024.

It wouldn’t even be the first time Keoghan allegedly inspired one of Carpenter’s songs. “Who’s the cute boy with the white jacket and the thick accent?” she sings in the Short n’ Sweet track “Bed Chem.” Fans quickly pieced together that the duo first crossed paths at a Givenchy’s Paris Fashion Week runway show in September 2023. Of course, Carpenter was photographed wearing a sheer dress just like the one referenced in her song.

Barry Keoghan attends the Givenchy Spring/Summer 2024 show on September 28, 2023 in Paris, France.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Sabrina Carpenter attends the Givenchy Spring/Summer 2024 show on September 28, 2023 in Paris, France.

Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Getty Images

Keoghan eventually went on to star as Carpenter’s bad boy love interest in the music video for “Please Please Please,” which features the lyric, “I heard that you’re an actor, so act like a stand-up guy.”

So, does that mean Barry Keoghan embarrassed Sabrina Carpenter enough to inspire “Manchild”? Not so fast! Here’s everything we know.

Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” LyricsLet’s start with the lyrics themselves:

You said your phone was broken, just forgot to charge it
Whole outfit you’re wearing, God, I hope it’s ironic
Did you just say you’re finished? Didn’t know we started
It’s all just so familiar, baby, what do you call it?

Stupid
Or is it slow?
Maybe it’s useless
But there’s a cuter word for it, I know

Man-child
Why you always come a-running to me?
Fuck my life
Won’t you let an innocent woman be?
Never heard of self-care
Half your brain just ain’t there
Man-child
Why you always come a-running, taking all my loving from me?

Why so sexy if so dumb?
And how survive the Earth so long?
If I’m not there, it won’t get done
I choose to blame your mom

Why you always come a-running to me?
Fuck my life
Won’t you let an innocent woman be?
Never heard of self-care
Half your brain just ain’t there
Man-child
Why you always come a-running, taking all my loving from me?

Oh, I like my boys playing hard to get
And I like my men all incompetent
And I swear they choose me, I’m not choosing them
Amen, hey, men
Oh, I like my boys playing hard to get (Play hard to get)
And I like my men all incompetent (Incompetent)
And I swear they choose me, I’m not choosing them (Not choosing them)
Amen (Amen), hey, men (Hey, men)

Man-child
Why you always come a-running to me? (Always come a-running to me)
Fuck my life
Won’t you let an innocent woman be? (Amen)

Oh, I like my boys playing hard to get (Play hard to get)
And I like my men all incompetent (Incompetent)
And I swear they choose me, I’m not choosing them (Not choosing them)
Amen (Amen), hey, men (Hey, men)

You can watch the music video here.

Some fans instantly thought of Barry KeoghanSome fans were quick to connect the track to Carpenter’s most recent ex, with one fan pointing out that Carpenter released the new single on the one-year anniversary of “Please Please Please,” writing, “I love a petty popstar I’m sorry.”

Of course, Carpenter technically released her new track one day before the anniversary of “Please Please Please,” which dropped on June 6, 2024.

What has Sabrina Carpenter said?Carpenter reflected on writing “Manchild” with Jack Antonoff and Amy Allen shortly after finishing up the Short N’ Sweet album in an Instagram caption shared on June 5. Here’s what she had to say:

“i wrote manchild on a random tuesday with amy and jack not too long after finishing short n’ sweet and it ended up being the best random tuesday of my life. not only was it so fun to write, but this song became to me something I can look back on that will score the mental montage to the very confusing and fun young adult years of life. it sounds like the song embodiment of a loving eye roll and it feels like a never ending road trip in the summer ! hence why i wanted to give it to you now- so you can stick your head out the car window and scream it all summer long! Thank you always and forever for listening and thank you men for testing me!!🐷🤍

So, is “Manchild” about Barry Keoghan?Carpenter and Keoghan reportedly dated between December 2023 and December 2024, give or take a few months. “They are both young and career-focused, so they’ve decided to take a break,” an anonymous source told People of their split.

Obviously, this timeline doesn’t quite line up with Carpenter’s revelation that she wrote the track before Short N’ Sweet was even released in August 2024. So the short answer seems to be no.

Who is it about then?Well, the “Manchild” lyric, “You said your phone was broken, just forgot to charge it,” could be a callback to “Coincidence,” which many fans believe to be about Shawn Mendes.

Specifically, this sounds similar to an excuse described by in “Coincidence”:

What a surprise, your phone just died
Your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs
Palm Springs looks nice, but who’s by your side?
Damn it, she looks kinda like the girl you outgrew
At least that’s what you said

For more on that whole thing, click here.

But to be honest, it seems more likely that Carpenter didn’t write “Manchild” about one manchild in particular, but an amalgamation of all her exes (and yours and mine) combined. As she said on Instagram, “Thank you always and forever for listening and thank you men for testing me!!”

This post may be updated.