Chappell Roan, The Subway | Song Review 🎵

Superb and relatable from start to finish, Grammy-winning pop singer/songwriter Chappell Roan put her foot, and her heart, into her single, “The Subway.”

“She’s got, she’s got away.” Who, Chappell Roan (Kayleigh Rose Amstutz)? An ex. Enough said!  The Grammy-winner follows up “The Giver” with another the song, “The Subway”.  Roan and Dan Nigro penned “The Subway” while Nigro produced and played multiple instruments. Beyond standard pop instrumentation (keys, guitar, bass, drums), which sounds striking, strings are incorporated into the musical backdrop. The soundscape supporting Amstutz is celestial.

Chappell Roan sings beautifully and expressively throughout “The Subway.” Matters of the heart, specifically heartbreak, fuel the fire. In the first verse, Roan sees her ex-girlfriend on the subway. Recognizing her specific features, she asserts, “I nearly had a breakdown.” Relatable to the nth degree. Later, after someone else wears the same perfume, she adds, “It almost killed me / I had to leave the room.” Oh, snap! In the second verse, she still can’t get past her: “If in four months this feeling ain’t gone / Well, fuck this city / I’m movin’ to Saskatchewan.” In the chorus, she sings, “It’s just another day and it’s not over / ‘Til it’s over, it’s never over.” She adds in the post-chorus, “But I’m still counting down the days / ‘Til you’re just another girl on the subway.” Some of Roan’s biggest, baddest, and most expressive vocals arrive during the outro, whose lyrics were excerpted at the beginning of this review.  If no other section of “The Subway” gives you the feels, the outro certainly will.  Superb from start to finish, Chappell Roan put her foot, and her heart, into this one.