Chappell Roan took the music industry by storm with her debut LP, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and the subsequent single, “Good Luck, Babe!” delighted fans further. It was co-written by Roan and Justin Tranter, who also co-wrote “My Kink is Karma” off the album. The single showcased not only narrative prowess and pop music’s trending toward retro production and instrumentation but also Roan’s incredible vocal power.
That vocal power will be on fabulous display tonight, December 31. Chappell Roan is set to perform live on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. The annual special will broadcast from Times Square on ABC starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Speaking with the Zach Sang Show podcast in 2024, meanwhile, Tranter discussed the process of writing “Good Luck, Babe!” with Roan. Usually, he said, he teams up with artists who are already established. But writing with Chappell Roan was the first time he’d “been part of a song that broke a pop star” on such a huge level.
Prior to actually writing with Roan, a friend of Tranter’s who worked label-side urged him to check out a certain up-and-coming pop star.
“I pressed play on ‘Pink Pony Club’ and said, ‘Well, that’s maybe the best song I’ve ever heard in my entire life,’” Tranter recalled. “For my taste, it’s almost like a jazz standard that turns into a dance club record. So, as a theater kid [who] also loves pop music, that song kind of checked every box I ever wanted checked in a song. And it’s a queer anthem, you know, it checked every box for me.”
“Pink Pony Club” Immediately Sold Justin Tranter On Co-Writing With Chappell Roan
“The first day we met, we wrote ‘My Kink is Karma,’” Tranter continued, name-dropping the revenge anthem from The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. “And then sixish [or] sevenish months later, we got together for another day and did ‘Good Luck, Babe!’”
If the whole process sounds easy-peasy and natural, that’s because it was, said Tranter. He admitted that the reality of his writing sessions with Chappell Roan isn’t too exciting, but there’s no denying the incredible results.
“I wish there was some crazy story,” he admitted. But then continued, “We’ve worked together since, because we wrote ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ in late 2022. So even though it came out [in] April 2024, we wrote it a while [ago].
“It was supposed to be on Midwest Princess,” Tranter revealed. “It was supposed to be on the album. They just didn’t finish it in time, for whatever reason. [But] thank God they didn’t finish it in time, because I think the stars aligned and it was supposed to be a standalone song.”
Justin Tranter Actually Forgot They Wrote ‘Good Luck, Babe!’
Tranter then admitted that he sort of forgot about “Good Luck, Babe!” for a bit. That is, until Chappell Roan texted him before the single dropped.
“Chappell texted me maybe two weeks before it came out like, ‘Oh, hey, by the way, here’s the final mix of the song, it’s coming out, love you,’” he explained. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I honestly forgot we wrote it.’
“It was so long ago, [and] no one ever sent me a demo of it,” he continued. Apparently, Roan’s process with producer Dan Nigro is to “really dig in [and] nitpick things.” So, there wasn’t a demo right after they wrote the song, because they spent weeks getting it perfect first. And good thing too, because “Good Luck, Babe!” went on to grip the nation.
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The post ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ Co-Writer Reveals How the Iconic Song Came To Be (And What Inspired Him to Work With Chappell Roan) appeared first on VICE.
