Chappell Roan has taken the world by storm, and her newest track “Good Luck, Babe!” has proven that pop music can be more than basic electricized beats and severely flat and undynamic vocals.
Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, or as the world knows her, Chappell Roan, is a 27-year-old musician from Missouri who has recently skyrocketed to fame. Following the release of her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and an insanely successful few months opening for Olivia Rodrigo on her GUTS Tour, Roan has quickly become a household name
Her newest track, “Good Luck, Babe!,” released on April 5 and has since gone viral on TikTok.
A synth-pop anthem, “Good Luck, Babe!” doesn’t stray from the musical excess that populated The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Instead, Roan’s newest single builds on that extravagance, settling in beside the rest of the singer’s discography with the use of her signature 1980s-inspired synth dance beat.
Starting with a high-hat heavy drum sequence, “Good Luck, Babe!” doesn’t lose momentum as it progresses, even though the track maintains a mid-tempo throughout. This is because Roan uses her powerful vocals to move the pace along.
Opening with the lines “It’s fine, it’s cool / You can say that we are nothing but you know the truth,” Roan is reproachful, alluding to the heartache narrative that the rest of the lyrics explore.
This narrative centres around a complicated connection between the singer and her lover, with one party refusing to acknowledge what the two of them know.
Continuing with “I don’t wanna call it off / But you don’t wanna call it love” furthers this narrative, Roan’s contempt barely hidden beneath the surface of her persona.
Launching into a simple yet incredibly effective chorus, Roan shows off her impressive range, singing in a bright falsetto. The lyrics “You can kiss a hundred boys in bars / shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling” highlights the age-old story many queer people know intimately: having to let go of a lover because they are deeply in denial about their own sexuality.
Both the track’s musicality and Roan’s narrative skills contribute greatly to the breathtaking nature of the song, showing a great deal of craftsmanship when it comes to developing the story she is trying to tell. Maintaining the track’s catchy sound while also providing lyrical magnificence can be hard, but Roan manages to do both with grace and skill.
Concluding with the reminder “You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling,” Roan nudges her lover towards the truth, but to no avail.
A true pop standout as well as a rocking queer anthem, “Good Luck, Babe!” nails everything it set out to achieve and proves that Chappell Roan deserves all of the fame she has garnered over the past few months.
