Chappell Roan’s debut album, Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, is a captivating journey through the trials and triumphs of life, presented with a unique blend of vulnerability and strength. Roan’s distinct voice, with its hauntingly beautiful tone, serves as the perfect vehicle for the album’s deeply personal lyrics.
Chappell Roan grew up in a small town in Missouri with seemingly conservative family members. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams in songwriting and performing. Her first song was released to YouTube, under the title Die Young, which lead to her signing a record label. In 2020, she released her first official single, Pink Pony Club. Finally, in September of 2023, she released her debut album Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which takes listeners on the ups and downs of living life as a queer young adult in Missouri as well as LA. What started as a nightmare has turned into a dream come true for Chappell.
“I love everything she stands for,” Tessa Scarsciotti (12) shares, “And for the Femininomenon that’s happening!” Femininomenon, opening song for the album, sets the tone for what’s to come. In a nutshell, the song is about Chappell’s discoveries in her love life, suggesting that being with women has made her feel more seen and heard as a partner. She expresses how men seem to know exactly what their partners want, but still fail to deliver. The song is meant to be fun and ridiculous, while still being intricate and conveying a deeper message to her listeners. Her entire album is a rollercoaster of emotions, containing fun, dancing songs with heart-wrenching melodies mixed in. Pink Pony Club, one of the first songs she wrote for the album, makes you want to dance, cry, and scream the lyrics all at the same time. It takes a special kind of songwriter to evoke such emotions.
Roan’s music is often described as “campy,” which essentially means absurdly exaggerated, artificial, or affected in a usually humorous way (Merriam-Webster.com). She states that it’s her goal to be a little campy, while still hoping to convey the struggles of growing up as a queer female in the midwest. While her songs are usually fun and upbeat, songs like Kaleidoscope are referred to as “real gay girl anthems.”
Kaleidoscope is about ruining a friendship due to romantic feelings. While this concept can apply to any gender, the lyrics speak to girls experiencing their friendship morph into something more for the first time. She speaks about how she wrote this song based on her childhood friend, who she developed a crush on over the years. She shares this was the first time she had a crush on someone of the same gender, and it felt scary and confusing to deal with those feelings. Ultimately, once she shared her feelings, the relationship became distant and eventually died out. The song is a tribute to every young girl who has experienced such a unique loss.
Having Chappell Roan as a role model is so empowering for queer women everywhere, as the mainstream media is predominantly filled with heteronormative ideals. Sometimes it’s nice to sing a song without having to change the pronouns (the girlies get what I mean). Roan serves as an inspiration, her songs are fun yet complex, and her story is astonishing. She deserves all the love that comes her way, as she worked hard to earn it. Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is just the beginning of an amazing journey for Chappell Roan.
