Here’s how ‘Red Wine Supernova’ sounded in Chappell Roan’s ‘straight era’

Chappell Roan has no shortage of sapphic pop perfection, from this year’s comphet anthem “Good Luck, Babe!” to the phenomenal “Femininomenon.” But one of Roan’s biggest sapphic hits actually started as a straight love song, as Roan revealed in a recently resurfaced livestream.

“Red Wine Supernova,” the song in question, has had a recent surge in popularity more than a year after its release. It’s currently sitting at its peak position #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 (one of five of Roan’s songs simultaneously charting there), and it was a standout number in Roan’s Tiny Desk Concert from March.

The track is explicitly sapphic, containing some of Roan’s most famous one-liners, including, “I heard you like magic? I’ve got a wand and a rabbit,” and, “Long hair, no bra / That’s my type.” But when Roan first wrote “Red Wine Supernova,” she hadn’t yet discovered her lesbian identity, and the song’s original lyrics were painfully straight.

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While livestreaming on TikTok in July of 2023 (a few months after the song’s release), Roan shared a snippet of a demo version of the track. “It’s pretty, but it just wasn’t right,” she said as the song started playing. “It was also completely different lyrics.”

On the first verse of the demo, Roan sang, “Bloodshot, heavy eyes / You just got a pocket knife / Carving initials, you talk slick / Won’t say how you feel and it’s making me sick.”

In the released version, that verse goes, “She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot / She showed me things I didn’t know / She did it right there out on the deck / Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck.”

The song’s production was also radically different, being slower, sparser, and a lot more somber. When a fan commented that the song was from Roan’s “straight era,” the singer replied, “Period!”

🎥| A year ago @ChappellRoan shared a demo version of "Red Wine Supernova" on Tiktok live. (7/2/23)

-The demo features different production as well lyrics from Chappell’s “Straight” era pic.twitter.com/OeWZBOEeka

— Chappell Roan Now (@ChappellRoanNow) July 4, 2024

“It’s not it,” Roan concluded, shaking her head and stopping the track.

Fans couldn’t believe their ears hearing the demo, thanking the universe for giving us the sapphic version of “Red Wine Supernova” and noting how drastically the song’s tone changed when Roan’s subject switched from a man to a woman. “The difference in tone is such a beautiful illustration of the difference between comphet and sapphic joy,” one fan commented, and we couldn’t agree more.

wdym red wine supernova was originally straight? that’s so-😭😭 thank god it changed omg

— jess (@jess9112) July 4, 2024

She was a playboy, brigitte bardot is such an iconic song beginning I can’t believe we came this close to never hearing it

— Celia (@Celia321209) July 4, 2024

Ofc it sounded sad when it was straight lmao

— ✧*̥˚ h a l e i g h *̥˚✧ (@strawberryfrowg) July 4, 2024

Wait the difference in tone is such a beautiful illustration of the difference between comphet and sapphic joy

— BenDeLaChrist✨ (@manticore_tiny) July 5, 2024

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