Chappell Roan's Unreleased Song 'The Subway,' Explained

The 'Good Luck, Babe!' singer debuted 'The Subway' at the Governors Ball 2024.

By Allison Schonter

She's your favorite artist's favorite artist. Your dream girl's dream girl. And she's serving fans exactly what they want – new music. As she continues on her Midwest Princess Tour, Chappell Roan, dressed as a New York taxi, debuted an all-new song during her June 9 performance at New York's Governors Ball festival at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, "The Subway."

Later describing the song as being "like 'Casual's cousin," a reference to a track on her The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess about a slow-burn situationship, "The Subway" is about heartbreak and healing. In the song, the "Good Luck, Babe!" singer, 26, sings lines like "I saw her green hair, beauty mark next to the mouth, there on the subway, I nearly had a breakdown" and "A few weeks later, somebody wore your perfume, it almost killed me, I had to leave the room," before hitting the gut-wrenching chorus: "It's just another day, and it's not over 'til it's over, it's never over."

Roan, who has embraced drag culture and her queer identity, debuted the song at the Gov Ball and has gone on to perform it at her concerts since, including during her Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee over the weekend, where she told the crowd that she's "not sure if or when it's coming out but I just think it's fun to sing." Currently, "The Subway" only exists in recordings of the singer's live performances, as it has not yet been released on any music streaming platforms. It is unclear when exactly "The Subway" will be available to stream.

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"The Subway" is the latest release for Roan, who signed her first record deal as a teen and released her debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in 2023. That album includes hits like "HOT TO GO!," "Red Wine Supernova," "My Kink Is Karma," "Femininomenon," and "Pink Pony Club." After her star began to rise following her Coachella performance, Roan's popularity soared further with the release of the single "Good Luck, Babe!," an '80s-esque pop song.

As for "The Subway," fans are certainly enjoying the new tune. In one Reddit thread, a fan asked if anyone else was "having an existential crisis over/complete and utter love affair with Chappell's new song," with somebody else writing, "the outro is stuck in my head." Several others said, "I need it to be released immediately it's so good it's already stuck in my head!!!!"

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