Back in June of 2024, global pop sensation Chappell Roan began to tease a gutwrenching ballad titled ‘The Subway’. Through live performances during festival runs, and the track blowing up on social media before a studio version was even available, ‘The Subway’ swiftly became Roan’s most anticipated song to date. On August 1st, after a run of elaborate promotions across New York City and a few official teasers, ‘The Subway’ finally hit streaming services, fulfilling fans’ once insatiable appetite for the next tragic queer hit.
[ 'The Subway' Single Art Photographed by Ryan Lee Clemens ]
‘The Subway’ may be one of Roan’s vulnerable songs to date, surpassing the likes of ‘Klediscope’ and ‘Coffee’, both tracks off her Grammy-nominated album, The Rise and Fall of A Midwest Princess. ‘The Subway’ leans into this quiet heartbreak, one that is both deeply personal yet hits home for plenty of listeners. Roan weaves together this post-breakup story, complete with literal and metaphorical missed romantic connections and the pain that comes from being surrounded by daily reminders of your former lover. ‘The Subway’ is foundationally riddled with grief, but with Roan’s flair for the dramatic, she adds this layer of compelling emotion that is truly moving.
Some may be under the impression that ‘The Subway’ is a complete tragedy, but I believe the track has a silver lining. Towards the end of the song, as Roan repeats her powerful mantra of “She’s got, She’s got a way/away”, there’s something cathartic lingering, maybe even relieving, as if acceptance is just on the horizon. It gives the illusion that maybe one day, after four months, the feeling will be gone, and Roan and her listeners will no longer have the need to move to Saskatchewan just to properly move on.
Alongside the song's release, Roan took to the streets of Manhattan for her creative promotional courtesy of Ramisha Sattar and her wildly ambitious music video. ‘The Subway’ could be seen before it was heard, with Roan’s team plastering posters across the city that could be easily mistaken as random street flyers, murals that were obviously more noticeable, and Rupenzel-esque red wigs hanging off the balconies of city buildings. On top of that, ‘The Subway’’s music video is an ode to New York City. Shot on sight with 35mm film, Roan can be found exposing herself to iconic New York moments, trapped on the subway with ghosts of her past, and literally getting dragged down the city streets. Despite getting plagued by garbage and rats, Roan’s turmoil doesn’t seem to break her, as she still chases that special feeling of love that got away.
“The cliche of 'the girl that got away' barely scratches the surface for me with this song. I wrote it as I was stumbling around New York with a broken heart and I kept envisioning us on every street, fire escape, coffee shop, park and yes… the subway.“
-Chappell Roan on 'The Subway'
Chappell Roan will be hitting the road this fall with a string of U.S live dates. She’ll be touring her new stage show, Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things, in New York, Los Angeles and Kansas City, Missouri. For a full list of shows and details on how to acquire tickets, you can follow this link HERE. For a list of Roan’s previously announced international tour dates and festival shows, you can follow this link HERE.
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