It’s official: your favorite artist’s favorite artist, pop sensation Chappell Roan, is dropping her new single “The Subway” on July 31. Praise be!
On July 28, Roan took to social media to announce the news alongside a photo of the artist surrounded in her signature crimson hair, simply writing “The Subway out July 31 8pm EST.”
The post also featured a snippet of the song, with the lyrics “‘ Til you’re just another girl on the subway / Made you the villain / Evil for just moving on / I see your shadow / I see it even with the lights off / I made a promise, if in four months this feeling ain’t gone / Well, f*ck this city, I’m movin’ to Saskatchewan.”
The buzz around “The Subway” and its release reached a fever pitch when mysterious black-and-white posters began appearing in subway stations from New York to Los Angeles in mid-July, alongside the date Aug. 1. Since then, Roaners have been dissecting every detail, from the posterâs font (which mirrors the typography of her previous era) to its strategic placement in transit hubs, a nod to both the songâs rumored title and Chappellâs journey from small-town Missouri to pop stardom. The speculation only grew more when fans noticed Chappell had been quietly letting out subway-themed hints on social media throughout July.
Chappell also stirred the pot on TikTok, leaving sly and sneaky comments under a handful of fansâ posts, sometimes so subtle that youâd miss them if you werenât paying close attention.Â
Fans also spotted a poster with Chappell serving face: flawless makeup, razor-sharp eyebrows, and those signature crimson waves that we all love. If you take a closer look, youâll notice a small tag on this poster with text that says, âBest Before August 1.â The text accompanying the photo reads “Going through a break up? Get bangs!”
Fans of the Grammy-winning âGood Luck, Babe!â artists are convinced this isnât just a one-off single but the launch of a full-blown new aesthetic era. Recent sightings of Chappell filming in an enormous, fairytale-inspired Rapunzel wig only fueled theories that her next project will embrace a darker, more cinematic vibe, one that mirrors the grit, anonymity, and electric connections of city life.
For college students, especially those in urban campuses or who romanticize the chaos of public transit, the teasers hit hard. Thereâs something undeniably magnetic about the way Chappell mythologizes the subway: a place where strangers lock eyes across crowded cars, where late-night rides spiral into existential musings, and where so many queer coming-of-age moments quietly unfold. If the professional recording of “The Subway” captures even a fraction of that magic, itâs poised to be the anthem of the summerâs end.