Assessing Chappell Roan’s “Country” Song “The Giver”

Reviews 62 Comments


#530 (Pop country) and #578 (Country kitsch) on the Country DDS.

Watch/Listen to this article on YouTube


As conscientious country music fans on guard for interlopers, carpetbaggers, and outright hijackers of the country genre—especially in this moment when it seems everyone wants to co-op the popularity of “country”—it’s important that we aren’t so uptight as to disallow anyone from releasing a country song, or at least one inspired by country sounds. If you go apoplectic that someone put fiddle on a pop song, you run the risk of just being a prude.

A pop song with a fiddle is exactly what rising pop star Chappell Roan has done with her latest song “The Giver.” Roan gave us a long runway to prepare for the release since she first performed the song on Saturday Night Live on November 2nd, 2024, though she didn’t release the studio version until Friday, March 14th. That’s also when the video of the SNL performance populated on YouTube.

“The Giver” is fundamentally a pop song, though with a very strong and prominent fiddle part, which is so pronounced in the song, it truly does pull it into the realm of country, or at least, country pop.

“The Giver” kind of sounds like Lainey Wilson mixed with The J. Geils Band, or maybe Toni Basil’s “Hey Mickey.” This sort of ’80s bubblegum pop is Chappell Roan’s domain, but as a girl from the rural Midwest (Willard, Missouri, pop. 6,300), you can’t be surprised country crept into her musical influences.

What’s somewhat refreshing about Chappell Roan’s country foray at the moment is that it appears to be limited. She’s assured fans that she has no intent to “go country” or to release a country album. She told Kelleigh Bannen of Apple Music, “I really just did it for fun. I’m not switching genres or anything. I wanted to write a country song because I just thought it would be funny. It’s campy and fun.”

She also said to her fans, “Country music is fire. It’s the campiest of camp. Some of you may be new to the country scene and not quite sure what to make of me having a fiddle and banjo in my song. Understandable boo … it is something different and sometimes different can feel bad because it’s unfamiliar, but I encourage you to give her another shot ;)”

Chappell Roan also told Amazon Music, “I’m not trying to convince a country crowd that they should listen to my music by baiting them with a country song. That’s not what I feel like I’m doing.”

Contrast this with the rollout of Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter. Granted, Beyoncé herself said it wasn’t country. But in polite society, you only had one option with Cowboy Carter—acquiesce and lie that it was the greatest country music album ever that would transform the entire country music genre forever. Saying otherwise might get you turned into your job’s HR Department. Cowboy Carter had to win the Grammy for Best Country Album and the all-genre Album of the Year (which it ended up doing), or all holy hell would rain down.

Also, unlike Cowboy Carter where you couldn’t see any significant translation occurring between fans of the album an actual country music, you can actually see some listeners really digging the sound of “The Giver,” and seeking more songs with that distinctive stompy country sound, like Alabama’s “Song of the South,” Diamond Rio’s “Meet in the Middle,” or Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine.”


Where the controversy from country music’s more conservative clientele might stem from is the lyrical content of the song. Long story short, “The Giver” is about a woman claiming she can please a woman better than a man. “I get the job done,” Chappell Roan assures. Maybe that’s true about achieving climax. Procreation is another matter.

Chappell Roan admits that she used to date men, but now identifies as a lesbian. “I think a lesbian country song is really funny,” she says. “I am just here to twirl and do a little gay yodel for yall.” All of this has led some in the press to label the song as “queer country.” But interestingly, Chappell has seemed to intentionally not used the ‘Q’ word. (To read a commentary about the “Queer Country” term, click here.)

Though the release of “The Giver” could be used as a forum for formulaic think pieces that love to use country music as a cultural refraction point while taking stereotypical and misinformed stances about the nature of the genre’s conservative leanings, this kind of rhetoric has been limited so far, probably in part because the political types are busy with bigger issues at the moment.

Chappell Roan has even said that her love for country music was inspired in part by Jason Aldean and Big & Rich—two of country’s most conservative acts—along with Shania Twain and the women of country. This has made some in the media and intellectual circles writhe in disgust, but speaks to Chappell’s disinterest in reshaping culture through the song, and instead just wanting to have some fun with a campy track.

One fair concern for country fans is if “The Giver” will shade out opportunities for the actual women in the country genre, including LGBT women who already have enough trouble getting attention for themselves. Will “The Giver” appear on Billboard’s country charts? It probably will. Will it be considered for country music awards? Maybe. Is it a great country song? Eh, not really. But it’s not meant to be.

Ultimately, it feels like too much can be made over “The Giver” in a way that can make country purists look uptight and out-of-touch, and gives more agency to the track than it probably deserves. The song is supposed to be frivolous and fun by Chappell Roan’s own assessments. So let it be that, and keep your powder dry for the bigger battles out there for the heart and soul of country music that are sure to arise in the future.

Similar to the assessment made about Planet Earth in the legendary sci-fi series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Chappell Roan’s “The Giver” is quote/unquote, “Mostly Harmless.”

– – – – – – – –

If you enjoyed this article, consider leaving Saving Country Music A TIP.

© 2025 Saving Country Music

, , ,