Taylor Swift’s “The Manuscript” Is A Spiritual Sequel To “All Too Well”

There’s nothing quite like pressing play on a new Taylor Swift album and hearing the first song that will set the tone for her new era. But the closing track of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, called “The Manuscript,” might become even more beloved for fans.

Swift’s albums often end with cathartic anthems that speak to healing and new perspective, from “Clean” to “Daylight.” The new song “The Manuscript” lives up to that tradition.

The track is told in third person, with Swift singing about a woman who “rereads the manuscript” of her “torrid affair” with an older man. This framing perfectly encapsulates the theme of the album: As Swift wrote on release day, “This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”

Not only does the song put a perfect (Clara) bow on the new album, but it’s a full-circle tune that pays homage to Swift’s many eras, and may serve as a spiritual sequel to “All Too Well.”

Here are “The Manuscript” lyrics, explained.

Who Is “The Manuscript” About?

There are several references to the age gap between the song’s narrator and the man she dated — they “compared their licenses,” for example, and she longed to be more mature (“In the age of him, she wished she was 30, and made coffee every morning in a Frеnch press”).

Devastated by the breakup, the narrator says that she reverted to eating kids’ cereal and sleeping in her mom’s bed. “She thought about how he said since she was so wise beyond her years, everything had been above board,” Swift sings. “She wasn’t sure.”

However, a professor later encourages her to write about the experience, which is turned into a performance. Watching the story unfold, Swift sings, “she knew what the agony had been for.”

The song has several parallels to Swift’s “All Too Well” short film. Not only did that film’s storyline feature a young woman writing a book after a devastating breakup, but Swift herself wrote and directed the project — so she’s certainly familiar with the idea of processing a painful experience through art.

The line about wishing she was 30 made some people think of Swift’s relationships with Jake Gyllenhaal or John Mayer — which fans on X (formerly Twitter) have explained.

By the conclusion of the song, the narrator realizes that her work is more than a diary of her personal life — once it’s published to the world, it evolves. “Now and then I reread the manuscript,” Swift sings. “But the story isn’t mine anymore.”

“The Manuscript” Lyrics

Read the song’s full lyrics below.

Now and then she rereads the manuscript

Of the entire torrid affair

They compared their licenses

He said, "I'm not a donor but

I'd give you my heart if you needed it"

She rolled her eyes and said, "You're a professional"

He said, "No, just a Good Samaritan"

He said that if the sex was half as good as the conversation was

Soon they'd be pushing strollers

But soon it was over

In the age of him she wished she was 30

And made coffee every morning in a French press

Afterward she only ate kids' cereal

And couldn't sleep unless it was in her mother's bed

Then she dated boys who were her own age

With dartboards on the backs of their doors

She thought about how he said

Since she was so wise beyond her years

Everything had been above board

She wasn't sure

And the years passed like scenes of a show

The professor said to write what you know

Looking backwards might be the only way

To move forward

Then the actors were hitting their marks

And the slow dance was alight with the sparks

And the tears fell in synchronicity with the score

And at last

She knew what the agony had been for

The only thing that's left is the manuscript

One last souvenir from my trip to your shores

Now and then I re-read the manuscript

But the story isn't mine anymore