Red Wine Supernova

Album: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023)
Charted: 31 41
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Red Wine Supernova" is a playful and suggestive song where Chappell Roan sings of a night out and a budding attraction to another woman. She chronicles the electricity of a new connection while unapologetically enjoying every second. The title is a metaphor for the intoxicating and potentially explosive nature of this newfound attraction.

    "I needed a campy gay girl song that captured the magic of having feelings for another girl," Chappell Roan told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "I packed the song with fun raunchy lyrics that make it feel like a night out flirting with the girl across the bar!"
  • The song took Roan three years to complete. It started as a rather melancholic ballad back in 2019. Roan was grappling with the challenge of being taken seriously as a young, queer artist. "It's a battle a lot of artists who sing about queerness struggle with too, because you're already in the territory of people not thinking that your relationships are as serious as heterosexual relationships," she confided to Billboard. "It's still really hard for me to be campy."

    With help from her producer Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray), the song blossomed into a silly and celebratory anthem, chock-full of playful innuendo.

    "I'm just writing from a place that feels best to me," Roan said of the end result. "It's intentional to make [my music] feel like a party, because that's what queerness feels like: It is a party."
  • Released on May 19, 2023, as the eighth single from Roan's debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, "Red Wine Supernova" was acclaimed by the critics. Callie Ahlgrim of Business Insider ranked it the best song of 2023. She wrote:

    "This is one of those perfect pop songs that, yes, ages like a fine wine. Just one sip of 'Red Wine Supernova' will heat your chest and rosy your cheeks, but the song gets better, more intoxicating, with every second that passes."
  • The song charted in June 2024, following the success of "Good Luck, Babe!."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Sam Hollander

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.

Divided Souls: Musical Alter Egos

Divided Souls: Musical Alter EgosSong Writing

Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

The Real Nick Drake

The Real Nick DrakeSong Writing

The head of Drake's estate shares his insights on the late folk singer's life and music.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.