‘The Giver’ by Chappell Roan - Lyrics & Meaning

Pop sensation Chappell Roan gave fans a taste of her newest era late last year when she performed an unreleased tune on Saturday Night Live. In a swirl of fiddle flourishes and twanged up riffs, it quickly became evident this new Chappell chapter could very well be a country-flavored one.

Chappell and her song, 'The Giver', graced the SNL stage last November, causing quite the stir among fans. Today, the tune is finally theirs.

The new number, about love, pleasure and the give and take that accompany both, joins the now-GRAMMY-decorated singer-songwriter's irresistible pop hits and perhaps opens the door for more Chappell country to follow.

‘The Giver’ revolves playfully around the toe-tapping cry of a fiddle, which combines with a warm, traditional-leaning guitar riff and deliberate, driving drum pattern. As always, Chappell Roan's powerhouse vocals take centre-stage, with the ‘Pink Pony Club’ hitmaker's striking voice injecting an extra jolt of energy into the track.

There's even a wonderfully light-hearted spoken-word interlude, during which Chappell addresses all the country boys out there that haven't been satisfying their partners.

Roan's ingenious decision to use a classic country style of delivery - one we famously see on Ella Langley and Riley Green's viral 2024 smash, ‘You Look Like You Love Me’, for instance - as she proceeds to ridicule all the country ‘bros’ out there in their pick-up trucks only accentuates the joviality that underpins much of ‘The Giver’.

“Ain't got antlers on the walls
But I sure know mating calls
The stalls in the bars on a Friday night
I know the boys may need a map
But I can close my eyes
And have you wrapped around my fingers like that”

‘The Giver’ explores a sapphic romance, with the protagonist promising their lover that they can ‘get the job done’ far more effectively than any ‘typical’ country boy could.

The narrator in ‘The Giver’ begins with a stereotype of a country boy having a set of deer antlers proudly hung up on the wall, with Chappell Roan underlining that she can't say she has any of these. She then wittily transitions to another hunting-based piece of imagery, underlining that she has a greater knowledge of ‘mating calls’ - not referring to wildlife, of course, but instead setting up the sexual theme rest of the verse. She mocks men that are disappointing in the bedroom - or even in the stalls in the local bar - and champions women as better lovers of women.

“So baby
When you need the job done
Call me "Baby"

'Cause you ain't got to tell me
It's just in my nature
So take it like a taker, 'cause baby, I'm a giver
Ain't no need to help me, 'cause baby, I deliver
Ain't no country boy quitter
I get the job done
I get the job done”

The scene of ‘The Giver’ is a clever flip of another classic, heteronormative country trope - that of the guy walking into a bar and eyeing up a woman who already has a boyfriend. Here, the narrator teasingly tells the woman she likes, who appears to be in a relationship with a man at the moment, to give her a signal and call her ‘Baby’ whenever she wants to experience a more fulfilling sexual experience.

The protagonist stresses that the woman won't need to offer her any guidance or directional assistance when they're making love in the bedroom - she can rest assured she'll ‘deliver’.

As she continues to highlight her sexual prowess, the narrator explains how she's a generous lover, describing herself as ‘a giver’. Again, the portrayal of the woman as being ‘a taker’ and Roan being ‘a giver’ emphasises the sexual themes of the song.

“Girl, I don't need no pickup truck
Revvin' loud to pick you up
'Cause how I love is how I touch
And in the strip mall, town of dreams
Good luck finding a man who has the means
To rhinestone cowgirl all night long”

Chappell Roan conveys how she doesn't feel the need for any of the macho, souped up pick-up trucks that country boys so often sing about, before expressing how all she needs is her magic touch. Roan sarcastically wishes the woman she's singing to luck, if she wants to hold onto the hope of finding a satisfactory cowboy.

The protagonist offers up another innuendo as she hints at how she can ‘rhinestone cowgirl all night long’, which could be a twist on Glen Campbell's 1975 hit, ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’.

“All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right
Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right
She gets the job done”

The spoken-word portion of ‘The Giver’ finds Chappell Roan addressing the cowboys she dismisses throughout the track, laughing off their boasts about being about to ‘treat a woman right’. She concludes that ‘only a woman knows how to treat a woman right’.

While Chappell Roan hasn't shared much about 'The Giver', she recently gave fans a peek inside the process of creating the soon-to-be bop.

"[Producer Dan Nigro] and I wrote this together and it was so fun!!!" she shared in a post on social media. "We’ve never done a country song and I have such a special place in my heart for country music. I grew up listening to it every morning and afternoon on my school bus and had it swirling around me at bon fires, grocery stores and karaoke bars."

Does this mean a Chappell country album is in our future? Well, the star had an answer for that too, explaining, "Many people have asked if this means I’m making a country album??? My answer is.. hmm right now I’m just making songs that make me feel happy and fun and The Giver is my take on cuntry xoxo may the classic country divas lead their genre, I am just here to twirl and do a little gay yodel for yall."

“Ain't got antlers on the walls
But I sure know mating calls
The stalls in the bars on a Friday night
I know the boys may need a map
But I can close my eyes
And have you wrapped around my fingers like that

-

So baby
When you need the job done
Call me "Baby"

-

'Cause you ain't got to tell me
It's just in my nature
So take it like a taker, 'cause baby, I'm a giver
Ain't no need to help me, 'cause baby, I deliver
Ain't no country boy quitter
I get the job done
I get the job done

-

Girl, I don't need no pickup truck
Revvin' loud to pick you up
'Cause how I love is how I touch
And in the strip mall, town of dreams
Good luck finding a man who has the means
To rhinestone cowgirl all night long

-

So baby
If you never had one
Call me "Baby"

-

'Cause you ain't gotta tell me
It's just in my nature
So take it like a taker, 'cause baby, I'm a giver
Ain't no need to help me, 'cause baby, I deliver
Ain't no country boy quitter
I get the job done
I get the job done

-

Na-na na-na na-na-na-na
Na-na na-na na-na-na-na
Na-na na-na na-na-na-na
Na-na-na (She gets the job done)
All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right
(Na-na na-na na-na-na-na, na-na na-na na-na-na-na)
Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right (Na-na na-na na-na-na-na, na-na-na)
She gets the job done
Na-na na-na na-na-na-na
Na-na na-na na-na-na-na (She gets the job done)
Na-na na-na na-na-na-na
Na-na-na

-

'Cause you ain't gotta tell me
It's just in my nature
So take it like a taker, 'cause baby, I'm a giver
Ain't no need to help me, 'cause baby, I deliver
Ain't no future for a quitter
I get the job done
I get the job done

-

I get the job done
I get the job done
Well I get the job done
Yes ma'am, yes I do
You're welcome”

--

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