Closing the Book: Full Analysis of “The Manuscript” Lyrics Meaning

The final song on Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is The Manuscript, which closes out the album with heartbreaking finality. 

What is “the manuscript,” whose story is Taylor narrating, and how does this song connect to the literary and academic themes of TTPD? 

Here’s my complete English teacher dissection of The Manuscript lyrics meaning, line by line. 

A black and white image displays a typewriter displaying the title "The Manuscript: Lyrical Analysis." Cover image for Swiftly Sung Stories' analysis of every Taylor Swift song.

The Manuscript by Taylor Swift

  • Title: The Manuscript 
  • Written by: Taylor Swift
  • Track: 31, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology 
  • Pen: Fountain, bit of Quill
  • Lyrics from Genius

The Manuscript Song Meaning: Narrative Synopsis

  • Setting: In the present, looking back over a past relationship & her past life. 
  • Characters: Narrator (Taylor, speaking in 3rd person “she”, then first person “my”), subject (3rd person “he”, ex-boyfriend, then 1st person “yours” )
  • Mood: Reflective, sad. 
  • Conflict: “Soon, it was over”: they broke up after he promised her a future. 
  • Inciting Incident: “She rereads the manuscript”: she reads through the story of their relationship, looking back on the consequences. 
  • Quest: Figure out what it was all for, and move on. 
  • Similes, Symbols, Metaphors & Deeper Meanings: “The Manuscript,” “torrid affair,” “licenses,” “donor,” “a professional,” “good samaritan,” “pushin’ strollers,” “age of him,” “made coffee every morning in a French press,” “ate kids cereal,” “mother’s bed,” “dart boards,” “wise beyond her years,” “above board,” “wasn’t sure,” “scenes of a show,” “professor said write what you know,” “looking backwards might be the only way to move forward,” “actors were hitting their marks,” “slow dance,” “alight with the sparks,” “tears fell in synchronicity with the score,” “what the agony had been for,” “last souvenir,” “trip to your shores,” “story isn’t mine anymore.” 
  • Lesson: “Looking backwards might be the only way to move forward.” You can let go of your old stories: they don’t have to define you. 

What is The Manuscript About? 

The Manuscript is an embedded narrative: a story within a story. 

The narrative begins with our narrator speaking in third person about the female subject, who “rereads the manuscript” that she’s written about her life. 

The script that she reads details a tumultuous and traumatic romance with a much older man, which inspires her to write the manuscript in the first place. 

Toward the end of the song, the narrator pops back out of the narrative and into first person. It’s been Taylor, relaying this past story, and giving it context in the present. 

The story has been about Taylor’s life all along, and she hands the story over to her reader, moving on from past traumas and tales. 

Who is The Manuscript About? 

Taylor has never revealed who the central romance in The Manuscript was inspired by, but most fans assume (because of the large age gap), that it was either Jake Gyllenhaal or John Mayer. 

Romance, however, is not the theme of the song. The romance simply inspires her to write about her life, which leads her to the massive career success she has today. 

The Manuscript Lyrical Analysis: Line by Line

Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "The Manuscript", dissecting hidden meanings, alternate interpretations, and analyzing use of literary devices.
The first verse reads: "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 pushin' strollers

But, soon, it was over"

“Now and then, she rereads the manuscript,” she begins in third person in the first verse. We get the feeling she’s talking about herself here, but we don’t get confirmation until the outro. 

A manuscript is an original narrative in some form, often shortened to “script” in film and theater. It also usually describes something that’s not published yet. She’s looking back over this story – maybe a diary, maybe song lyrics, or maybe an album – that’s personal to her. 

“The manuscript” is “of the entire torrid affair.” “Torrid” means something that’s hot with emotion and passion. “Affair” is either a sequence of events, or a romance where one or both partners is married. 

Here, she alludes that their romance was somehow forbidden, and burned hot and fast (or maybe Red?). 

“They compared their licenses,” she says, describing when they first got to know each other. They pull out their driver’s licenses to compare ages, but to have a “license” is to be accredited to do something. This second meaning will become important. 

“He said, ‘I’m not a donor but / I’d give you my heart if you needed it’,” describing his lack of an organ donor symbol on his driver’s license. It’s a terrible, cheesy joke, but also shows his lack of emotion: what kind of person wouldn’t be an organ donor?

“She rolled her eyes and said ‘You’re a professional’,” she replies to his terrible joke. What she means is he’s a “professional” pick up artist or womanizer. But “a professional” is a common term for a hitman: is he “licensed to kill”, like The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived?

“He said, ‘No, just a good samaritan’,” he replies, but he’s not a good samaritan at all. A good samaritan would be an organ donor, and Taylor is not someone who needs help or saving in either case. 

He’s essentially trying to convince her he’s a good guy, but we can already tell he’s not. Taylor, however, is too young to see through his act. 

“He said that if the sex was half as good as the conversation was,” she says of his romantic (and icky) ramblings, “Soon, they’d be pushin’ strollers.” 

This is gross and predatory, number one, because we’ve established they have a big age gap. She is (likely) a child, or at least much younger than him, whom he talks about having children with.

And number two, he’s promising a young person a bright, dreamy, romantic future, and she’s so young and vulnerable that she believes it. 

“But, soon, it was over,” she laments. He promised her a future, then yanked it away, breaking her heart deeply, and maybe for the first time. 

Verse 2: “So Wise Beyond Her Years”

Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "The Manuscript", dissecting hidden meanings, alternate interpretations, and analyzing use of literary devices.
The second verse reads: "In the age of him, she wished she was thirty

And made coffee every morning in a Frеnch press

Afterwards, she only atе kids' cereal

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

Then she dated boys who were her own age

With dart boards 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"

“In the age of him, she wished she was thirty,” she says in the second verse. “The age of him” means the era of her life she was with him, but also describes his older age: she wishes she was older so she could catch up with him. 

This recalls a line from All Too Well: “You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine / And that made me want to die.” This is the central conflict (and trauma) with this relationship: she’s still a kid, and he’s an adult. 

She wishes she “made coffee every morning in a Frеnch press” while she was dating him. She longed to be older and more refined, having “adult” tastes. 

🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶

“Afterwards, she only atе kids’ cereal,” she says, reverting to her childhood comforts after their breakup, “And couldn’t sleep unless it was in her mother’s bed.” 

In their relationship, she aspired to be older and more mature, but when the relationship is over, she immediately reverts to her younger ways, seeking comfort from her mom like a child. This relationship and breakup was extremely traumatic. 

“Then she dated boys who were her own age,” she says, getting back in the dating saddle,”With dart boards on the backs of their doors.” She tries dating college-age bros for a change. 

But they can’t match her maturity level, either. She’s not quite to her French press era, but she’s long past dart boards on bedroom doors. The dartboard imagery also alludes to her being the “target”, maybe of media slander, or maybe the predatory wiles of men. 

“She thought about how he said since she was so wise beyond her years,” she reflects, “Everything had been above board.” He assured her that she was so much older and wiser than a normal kid, that made their age gap okay. It did not. 

“She wasn’t sure,” she said, looking back with wariness. Was this something illegal, or not quite illegal but just very, very wrong? She’s realizing she was taken advantage of. 

Bridge: “The Professor Said to Write What You Know”

Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "The Manuscript", dissecting hidden meanings, alternate interpretations, and analyzing use of literary devices.
The bridge reads: "And the years passed like scenes of a show

The professor said to write what you know

Lookin' 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"

“And the years passed like scenes of a show,” she says, still inside the reading of the manuscript. She’s moving through the script, jumping from scene to scene and going forward in time. 

“The professor said to write what you know,” she says, alluding that she’s now college-aged. “The professor” is anyone in her life that’s actually older and wiser, and can guide and teach her professionally. 

“Write what you know” is very common advice in any creative writing academia. It means to use your personal experience to fuel the emotions on the page. Here, she’s saying she’ll use these personal experiences to begin creating her career: her songwriting. 

“Lookin’ backwards might be the only way to move forward,” she says, looking back on what she’s learned, and using it to propel her forward professionally and emotionally. 

The next four lines – I believe – describe her process of writing “the manuscript”. 

“Then the actors were hitting their marks,” she says. She’s writing the script, parts are cast, and the drama is played out on stage or on camera. This is symbolic of her songwriting and performing. 

“And the slow dance was alight with the sparks,” she says of writing the romantic scenes in her life, like in Sparks Fly. She creates a cinematic universe out of her romantic life. 

“And the tears fell in synchronicity with the score,” she says, in a meta moment. Her tears fall as she’s creating this cinematic masterpiece: the story of her life in the manuscript. As she writes what she knows, she processes all the emotions and puts them on the page. 

“And at last, she knew what the agony had been for,” she says, standing back and looking at her masterpiece: the manuscript. 

So what is the manuscript? I surmise it’s her entire catalog: every song she’s written. 

Outro: “The Story Isn’t Mine Anymore”

Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "The Manuscript", dissecting hidden meanings, alternate interpretations, and analyzing use of literary devices.
The outro reads: "The only thing that's left is the manuscript

One last souvenir from my trip to your shores

Now and then, I reread the manuscript

But the story isn't mine anymore"

“The only thing that’s left is the manuscript,” she says, hopping back out of the story and into real time. 

This is the second layer in the narrative, which makes this song an embedded narrative: a story within a story. 

The only thing that’s left of all that tumult, she says, is what she’s written. She’s no longer at that point in her life, but she memorialized it in song. 

“One last souvenir from my trip to your shores,” she says, entering first person and finally acknowledging that this story has been about her all along. 

“My trip to your shores” means she was just visiting somewhere – other periods in her life, maybe? – and now the trip is over. This is a goodbye, in some way, shape or form.

But who is “you”? I believe it’s the character in the embedded narrative: “she”. Is she saying goodbye to her younger self? 

“Now and then, I reread the manuscript,” she says, looking back over her past work, “But the story isn’t mine anymore.” 

She’s not living in that time period any longer: she’s grown up. Gone are the heartbreaks, and wishing she was older, and ruminating over past relationships. She put it all out on the page, and now she lets it go. 

Who does she pass it on to? Us. Her readers.

🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶

The Manuscript Meaning: Final Thoughts 

The ending of The Manuscript feels very final: it’s closure, and it’s saying goodbye to something. 

Where does “the manuscript” go, and who does it belong to? Her past self, possibly. But I think it’s addressed to us: her fans. Her listeners.

Like she said in Dear Reader, “burn all the files, desert all your past lives.” That’s what she’s doing here: letting go. Moving on. Moving forward. Saying goodbye to the past, and hello to the future. 

Where is she going? That’s for her to know, and for us to find out, but this is a goodbye letter.

This is Taylor closing a chapter, or closing the entire book. Is it just the “book” of TTPD, or is it a larger narrative? Stay tuned.

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