Sabrina Carpenter released her newest album, Man’s Best Friend, on Aug. 29, and fans are pumped to say the least. But in one of Carpenter’s songs, she seems to allude to her ex-boyfriend, Barry Keoghan, being the one to break up with her at the end of their relationship. So, did Keoghan break up with Carpenter? “Goodbye,” the final song on Carpenter’s new album, seems to confirm it.
The release of Man’s Best Friend waved goodbye to Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet era. So while I’m (a little reluctantly) bidding farewell to all of the heart motifs, “Juno” positions, and the bedazzled Victoria’s Secret bodysuit reveals, it looks like Sabrina Carpenter is also saying bye-bye to ex-boyfriend, Barry Keoghan. It’s no surprise that her seventh studio album is just as full of tongue-in-cheek innuendos and not-so-subtle digs as Short N’ Sweet, but “Goodbye,” — the final track on Man’s Best Friend — seems to be the most direct. Oh, boy!
The track toes that signature Sabrina Carpenter line between theatrical humor and raw honesty. And despite the seemingly on-again-off-again nature of Carpenter’s relationship with Keoghan, “Goodbye” seemingly reveals that he was the one who dumped her, and that she was absolutely devastated by that fact. That seems especially true with the heartbreaking opening: “Broke my heart on Saturday / Guess overnight your feelings changed / And I have cried so much I almost fainted.”
From there though, Carpenter quickly pivots from crying on the bathroom floor to firing back with that razor-sharp wit we know and love. She mocks his mixed signals with, “Can’t call it love, then call it quits / Can’t shoot me down then shoot the sh*t / Did you forget that it was you who said goodbye?” And though she never directly says Keoghan’s name, the specificity stings enough that it’s hard not to picture him as the target. If you needed a sign to leave that confusing situationship, this is it.
To go even further, the jab at not being bilingual felt like yet another sly, knowing wink at her famously-Irish ex. When she spits, “You used to love my ass, now baby, you won’t see it anymore,” it’s classic Sabrina, equal parts savage and self-aware. And then there’s the bet that he’ll come crawling back with “hokey flowers” in three weeks, which feels ripped right from a romcom plot that she already knows the ending of. Paired with the fun, multilingual “sayonara, adios, arrivederci, au revoir,” she’s basically telling him goodbye in every language possible, just to make sure the message sticks. It’s the kind of over-the-top, glitter-coated savagery that you’ll definitely be blasting during a sunset drive with all the windows rolled down.
The album may be called Man’s Best Friend, but this track proves she’s no puppy in this breakup — she’s the one holding the leash. After all, as she cheekily reminds us in “Manchild” — the song embodiment of a loving eye roll — she will always get the last laugh. So, Barry, if I were you, I’d start sleeping with one eye open.