# @popbase on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DbegM19Bpu8
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68592039-popbase-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4c22ae508d.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Pop Base (@PopBase) — https://gondola.cc/PopBase

## Caption

One year ago today, Chappell Roan released ‘The Subway.’

Chappell Roan released 'The Subway' through Amusement and Island Records, a single that had been building anticipation for well over a year. She first debuted it live at New York's Governors Ball in June 2024, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, and the performance instantly became a fan favorite on TikTok and Reddit, with listeners repeatedly begging for a studio version. For much of that following year Roan stayed publicly undecided about releasing it, telling Rolling Stone in September 2024 she preferred keeping it a live-only moment, before eventually confirming and formally announcing the release date via Instagram just days ahead of launch.

Written and produced with her longtime collaborator Dan Nigro, the song is a dream-pop, '80s-synth-tinged breakup ballad, built around the ache of a fleeting subway encounter that becomes a metaphor for lost love across New York City. Roan has described writing it while wandering the city heartbroken, imagining an ex-partner on every street corner, and the track leans fully into vulnerable, unfiltered songwriting — including a now widely quoted lyric where she jokes about moving to Saskatchewan if the heartbreak doesn't fade in four months. An official video, shot on location in New York and featuring dramatic imagery of exaggeratedly long red hair, dropped hours after the single itself.

The song became both a critical and commercial success, shooting straight to number one in the UK and earning widespread praise for pushing Roan's sound beyond the theatrical pop and country flourishes of earlier singles like 'The Giver.' It picked up two Grammy nominations in 2026, for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, along with an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Song of the Summer, further cementing "The Subway" as one of the standout singles bridging her breakout debut era and her long-awaited sophomore album.

#chappellroan #music #popculture

## Stats

- **Views:** 178,144
- **Likes:** 22,108
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- **Comments:** 158

## Tags

popculture, music, chappellroan

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