By Hannah Kremer, Opinions editor
Chappell Roan, an up-and-coming pop artist from Missouri, has recently released a new single titled “Good Luck Babe!” that is ranked #25 on the Top 50-USA charts. This release closely follows her most recent album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which has accumulated over 204 million plays since early April.
Chappell Roan has created music inspired by early 2000s hits and 80s synth-pop since her career started with the release of “Good Hurt” in 2017. She has played as an opener for numerous artists, such as Declan McKenna and Olivia Rodrigo, which has brought an onslaught of media attention. Her most notable album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, features songs like “Red Wine Supernova ” and “Casual,” which have since been featured as the sound in numerous TikTok’s praising the singer. A viral sensation, her most notable performance was on NPR’s Tiny Desk live set, where she wore a bright pink dress, a tiara, white face paint and big hair, encapsulating her midwestern pageant drag queen aesthetic. Belting soulful lyrics about queer liberation, heartache, alienation and wild seduction, she captured the views of many, one million, to be exact.
Her most recent release – “Good Luck Babe!” – marks the next chapter of her music-making career. She explains that the song is about “wishing good luck to someone denying fate” in a raw, emotional ode about a girl Roan dated who denied feelings for the artist and her own sexuality altogether. Her lyricism packs a powerful punch, filled with rage directed at her former love. “You can kiss a hundred boys in bars / shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling / You can say it’s just the way you are / Make a new excuse, another stupid reason.” She points out her ex-partner’s compulsory heterosexuality, wishing them a flippant “good luck, babe,” fully anticipating that they will never get over their feelings, whether it is “shooting a shot” with a man or drinking a shooter.
In a natural progression from acting nonchalant to furious, her vocal range allows her to sing in a strong falsetto that takes your breath away. The peak of her abilities is showcased in the bridge of the song, singing “When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night / With your head in your hands, you’re nothing more than his wife / And when you think about me, all those years ago / You’re standing face to face with ‘I told you so.’”
Despite the easy flow of her lyricism, the song was difficult to write, “I felt so much anger. I was so upset. It all came out, and I didn’t add anything when I wrote it all down,” Chappell explained in a Rolling Stone interview. “It was a perfect storm.”
It’s hard to tell whether this new single will precede yet another successful album. However, as her songs continue to climb the chart, “you’d have to stop the world just to stop” Chappell Roan’s massive success.