On August 1, pop-sensation Chappell Roan released her latest single, “The Subway“. Reflections of modern life are seen through her melodic tones. Roan sings about public transport, hair, and unrequited love.
Following the song’s initial performance at the 2024 Governors Ball Festival, Roan released the single. A music video (MV) soon followed. Entitled “The Subway“, her ballad has themes reminiscent of the generational dilemma of love and life in the 21st century. Check out the MV below:
Themes Explored
The phrase ‘Hair Holds Memories’ perhaps never found a better expression than in this melancholic MV. We see Roan go through different hair lengths indicative of transitions in life. Additionally, by utilising absurdism in the first half of the music video, Roan’s chopped bob delivers a heart-wrenching tale we are all familiar with. In a desperate escape from our inevitable realities, our hair triumphs the path to ‘moving on’.
Chappell Roan is infamous for her exposé of lesbian love and its sorrowful reality. Ultimately, her lyricism is what truly triumphs her message. The Subway also delivers the same flavour through the following lines:
“She’s got, she’s got a way … And she got, she got away.”
The imagery and reference to subway life is an homage to the New York City fleeting romance trope—the love that ceases before it begins. In Roan’s performance, we see glimmers of our own lives and end up wishing for the ‘one that got away’. So, as she belts the lines repeatedly towards the end, we feel for her and eventually, for ourselves.
The Chappell Roan Phenomenon
Many fans and listeners acknowledge the power and consistency with which the artist delivers her art. In her MV’s comments, we see a semblance of this, as some say:
“Made you the villain, evil for just moving on” hits me like CRAZY HELLO???
“the hair symbolism is genius i’m gagged”
Unsurprisingly, “The Subway” has debuted #1 on the Global Spotify chart with 8.351 million streams, showcasing the effect the song has had already. The simple melodies and rhythms come to the artist’s aid while her voice does the major work at painting the picture. In her testimonies we see how her love became attached to the city, to the life that the city birthed. Escaping the woes that it brought to her was necessary, seen in her wish to move to ‘Saskatchewan’, a town with no subways to haunt her.
The Subway reminds us of the idea of seeing someone and feeling something; then never seeing them again, and feeling everything. Consequently, memories of them never cease to exist despite attempts at leaving them behind. In the contrasting image of the subway that never stops for long, love is a painful yet enduring endeavour—one that does not stop for anyone, ever. Roan’s poetry is a tale of love, heartbreak, and the role that memory plays in our joyfulness and in our sorrow.
So, if you relate even the slightest, or are stifling a cry and want to let it out, give “The Subway” a listen. Let us know what you feel about the single and its music video, down below!
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