This Chappell Roan mystery finally has an answer

Ever since Chappell Roan released the situationship anthem “Casual,” her fans have been caught up on one mystifying lyric. In the chorus, Roan sings that someone, either herself or her partner, was “knee-deep in the passenger seat” while they were “eating [her] out.” But let’s be serious here: the passenger seat of a car doesn’t provide much room for two people, let alone two people getting busy. What does getting “knee-deep” in the passenger seat look like in practice?

It’s a question scholars (read: TikTokers) have been desperately trying to answer. There are several theories: Maybe the receiver is the one knee-deep, and is thus on their knees up on the seat? Maybe it requires a makeshift booster seat to make room? “One must imagine Sysiphus knee-deep in a passenger seat,” quipped one brave influencer exploring the dilemma.

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But one TikToker in particular, @poppylaur, seems to have cracked the code — and she did it in full Chappell Roan drag.

“Today we are answering the age-old question: How does one get knee-deep in the passenger seat?” she asks, wearing a look similar to the one Roan rocked for her iconic Tiny Desk performance.

“First thing we’ve gotta do is get as much room in our compact cars — because yes, we are all driving compact cars these days,” she says, entering an example car and adjusting the passenger seat as far back as possible.

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“I’ve seen a lot of people doing this,” she says, before assuming a position with both knees on the floor of the car, facing the passenger seat. “What is this? This isn’t knee-deep in the passenger seat; this is knee-deep in the passenger floor. No no no, those aren’t the lyrics.”

Instead, @poppylaur lifts just one knee onto the seat, presumably between the legs of her imagined partner, and leans forward.

“We’re getting a knee up in that seat, baby, and let’s just assume there’s a person, a beautiful person here, their legs up, and you’re just going to pound town,” she eloquently explains. “As Chappell Roan intended.”

@poppylaur’s comments were flooded with praise for her innovative technique. “WOMEN IN STEM,” cheered one commenter. “You’re the only one I trust to give a correct demonstration and explanation,” wrote another.

Other folks were just amazed with her transformation, saying they thought she was Roan herself at first glance. 

“This MIGHT be Chappell Roan,” reads one comment.

“I thought you were Chappell for a second. But either way, this is the tutorial we needed,” says another.

How did @poppylaur pull off such a perfect illusion, let alone such a perfect tutorial? “The power of lesbianism,” she wrote in the comments. Amen!