{"id":40026,"date":"2025-08-01T19:03:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T19:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/40026\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T19:03:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T19:03:22","slug":"chappell-roans-the-subway-was-worth-the-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/40026\/","title":{"rendered":"Chappell Roan\u2019s \u2018The Subway\u2019 Was Worth the Wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Roan at the initial performance of \u201cThe Subway.\u201d
\n Photo: Nina Westervelt\/Billboard via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

Lift your jaws off the ground, and try to remember to both blink and breathe. Chappell Roan\u2019s<\/a> been teasing audiences with her newest power-pop ballad for over a year now. She\u2019s performed it live, she\u2019s given interviews about it, and the song has already gone viral on TikTok. Now, it\u2019s finally making its way to a streaming service near you. Below, everything we\u2019ve been through while waiting for \u201cThe Subway.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Roan performed the song for the first time dressed as Lady Liberty, belting out the chorus, \u201cShe\u2019s got, she\u2019s got a way,\u201d with all her might.<\/p>\n

Throughout the summer, she performed it at Lollapalooza<\/a>, Austin City Limits<\/a>, and Outside Lands Festival. A video<\/a> from the latter has well over a million views on YouTube.<\/p>\n

In an August 2024<\/a> interview with Bowen Yang for Interview<\/a>, Roan said she was planning on just singing the song live for a long time because \u201cthat\u2019s how I did the first album and it fucking worked.\u201d She followed up in a September 2024 cover story with Rolling Stone<\/a>, noting, \u201cI just like performing it.\u201d She added, \u201cI have two others that I really want to perform, too, [but] I don\u2019t know what\u2019s next. When I don\u2019t know, it just hasn\u2019t hit me yet because usually I know. I always have an answer. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s \u2018Subway.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While making her debut on Saturday Night Live on an episode hosted by John Mulaney, Roan debuted her country-top anthem \u201cThe Giver.\u201d The performance is much beloved online, but she doesn\u2019t release even that track until March 13, 2025.<\/p>\n

A live recording of Roan singing the \u201cShe\u2019s got a way\u201d bridge soundtracks over 115,000 videos on TikTok. It\u2019s usually behind stills<\/a> from movies<\/a> or TV shows captioned, \u201cI\u2019m so hungry I could eat \u2026,\u201d a reference to previous relationships in the characters\u2019 or actors\u2019 past that could be damaging to bring up. At other times, it\u2019s just used to capture desperation.<\/p>\n

Roan finally gave much-needed insight into the release on Las Culturistas<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve been banging my head against the wall with \u2018The Subway,\u2019 because some songs can work live \u2014 certain things can work live \u2014 and they don\u2019t work in the studio,\u201d she explained. She added, \u201cIt\u2019s just going to feel different, and different doesn\u2019t always mean bad. You just have to really take yourself out of it and be like, \u2018This is different, and it\u2019s okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And this version is mellower. The production is reminiscent of \u201990s alt rock \u2014 Sixpence None the Richer or the Cranberries. While the build to the bridge is still monumental combined with the vocal layering, it\u2019s not as desperate as the live version.<\/p>\n

In the music video, Roan is bedecked in a Cousin Itt\u2013like wig situation, klutzing throughout New York City with her giant hair cascading down the fire escape and getting caught in taxi doors and, of course, on the subway. The video ends with her in Washington Square Park, sitting on her giant mane and eating pizza. New York\u2019s always worth the wait.<\/p>\n

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