Taylor Swift is well known for adding cryptic references about her past relationships in her songs. The same was spotted in her latest album The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD). Among her famous romances is her relationship with Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010. The singer’s dedicated fanbase, known as Swifties, has long speculated that she mentioned Gyllenhaal in not just one but two songs, All Too Well from 2011 album Red and in TTPD’s bonus track, Manuscript.
Despite Jake Gyllenhaal’s past denial of the connection to All Too Well, recent statements by the actor have reignited fans’ belief that the song was indeed about him.
The song, All Too Well features the line, “You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed.” Taylor Swift again reignited the speculation after she released a 10-minute version of the same song in 2023.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Jake Gyllenhaal revealed that he has been wearing intensive corrective lenses since the age of 6 due to being born with a lazy eye, which eventually resolved naturally. Despite this, he remains legally blind. Gyllenhaal sees this condition as advantageous, stating, “I like to think it’s advantageous. I’ve never known anything else. When I can’t see in the morning, before I put on my glasses, it’s a place where I can be with myself.”
However, at the same time, Jake Gyllenhaal speaking to Esquire magazine, dismissed the rumours saying, “It has nothing to do with me. It’s about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”
In her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department’s song The Manuscript, Taylor Sings, “Now and then she rereads the manuscript / Of the entire torrid affair /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. 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.”
While it is not confirmed, Swifties again believe the lyrics are about Jake Gyllenhaal.
