The train has finally arrived!
One year after Chappell Roan used the Governors Ball spotlight to showcase her New York City-inspired breakup song, “The Subway,” the out lesbian music artist rolled out the studio version of the song on July 31 and debuted the music video on Aug. 1.
“The Subway OUT NOW!!!!” Roan excitedly wrote in an Instagram post on July 31. “I’m very proud of this song & what a journey she has been on.”
Prior to the full music video debut, Roan teased a 23-second trailer on YouTube as well as on Instagram, where it drew more than 600,000 likes in a matter of hours. Minutes before the full music video was released, more than 7,000 people were waiting for it on YouTube.
The deeply personal and emotional song recalls a time when Roan spotted her ex on the train, prompting her to nearly have a “breakdown,” she sings. The song elaborates on the mixed feelings Roan experiences when she thinks about her ex: “But I’m still counting all of the days/ ‘Til you’re just another girl on the subway.” The video shows Roan singing on a dimly-lit subway train before appearing in other areas in the city, including the fountain at Washington Square Park and various Manhattan skyscrapers.
Roan was dressed as Lady Liberty when she debuted the song at Governors Ball. In her July 31 Instagram post, Roan said she likes to play her new music live first “to feel them out.”
“Obviously not knowing this really chaotic year would follow the performance, it didn’t really leave me the time to build the world the song deserved,” Roan wrote. “But finally we are here. I def ripped my hair out trying to figure out the puzzle of how this song should feel musically and visually and emotionally. Luckily, there are some to spare. Thank you for sticking it out for a whole year. It was worth it to make sure everything was absolutely right (˘ᴗ˘) xoxo.”
Roan will bring “The Subway” back to the Big Apple in September when she is scheduled to perform four times at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens from Sept. 20-24.
