By Jill Warnke
In the past month, many new album releases have been rapidly climbing the charts. One of these top hits has bolstered a particular musical artist into the musical spotlight.
On April 5, 2024, American singer and songwriter, Chappell Roan, released the song “Good Luck, Babe!” through Amusement Records and Island Records.
“Good Luck, Babe!” bids farewell to a relationship in which the singer belts out their well wishes to an ex lover who refused to acknowledge their queer relationship and their own homosexual identity.
This particular track turned Roan into an overnight sensation who has been flooding social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Roan’s opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour and performances at Coachella earlier this year has thrust her into the spotlight, with several of her songs making it to the Daily Top Songs USA chart and her monthly listeners increasing more than 500% throughout 2024.
Irvington sophomore Kiera Ruffler, like many other listeners, had never known of Chappell Roan prior to this new hit.
“I’ve only really heard of Chappell Roan recently due to Tik Tok and “Good Luck, Babe!’” Ruffler recalls. “It seems like a fun song to listen to!”
In “Good Luck, Babe!”, Roan’s stylistic choices creates an upbeat tune which, alongside the bright visuals of her music video, helps strengthen the nostalgic 80s quality that this single embodies.
As many listeners have realized, the song’s use of falsettos creates a vocal delivery that is uniquely Chappell Roan and further develops the track’s magnetic appeal and overall catchiness. There is also a classic pop-rock drum beat that acts as the backbone of the song that gives the upbeat feeling to the song.
The addition of string instruments from the second verse also strengthens the quality and engaging aspect of the music and makes for a catchy rhythm that will be playing on loop in the mind of its listeners. Roan effortlessly transitions from the track’s verses into its chorus, which is supported by a captivating reverb in the background music.
Notably, the use of a call and response during the chorus adds to the striking attractiveness of the single. In the chorus, Roan sings with echoing background vocals; “Well, good luck, babe! (Good luck, babe!)”
As the song goes through its verses, there is eventually a brief instrumental break of the synth and string instruments which transitions into the more snappier tone used in the bridge. Here, Roan details the possible future where her former partner will come to regret the decisions she made in the aftermath of their relationship. Breathy vocals change to much stronger vocals as the bold tone of this iconic b-section effectively conveys a subdued sense of bitterness or anger.
The final belt of “I told you so!” right before the chorus is supported by a series of eighth notes on the synth that amplify the energy of that belt which is sustained into the chorus for more than eight seconds!
The choice of gradually slowing down the music aptly reflects the lyrics she sings during it: “have to stop the world just to stop the feeling,” providing a sense that the world is coming to a halt as the song comes to a close.
“Good Luck, Babe!” has ultimately been dubbed as one of the “songs of the summer” by many listeners across social media platforms and continues to rise in popularity.
“I think the song is super great,” says junior Molly Fuchs. “While it didn’t introduce me to her, it made me regret saying ‘no’ to her concert tickets from before she released it.”
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