Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” isn’t just one of the most popular songs of the year; it’s one of the gayest, too. The track tackles the pressures of comphet head-on, as Roan laments being in love with a girl that’s stuck in the closet.
That’s why a new cover of “Good Luck, Babe!” is rubbing queer folks the wrong way, as it changes the song’s lyrics to erase any trace of gayness.
Filipino pop star Sarah Geronimo performed her version of “Good Luck, Babe!” on the variety TV show ASAP, and when the performance was posted to social media, folks noticed a few key changes. Geronimo changed perhaps the song’s most famous lyric, “You can kiss a hundred boys in bars,” into, “You can kiss a hundred girls in bars.”
Geronimo also changed the song’s bridge. Where Roan warns her lover that someday she’ll wake up with her head in her hands, being “nothing more than his wife,” Geronimo tells her ex-man that it’s his new girl who will be “nothing nothing more than your wife.”
Your internet debrief
Stay ahead of the most scandalous, hilarious, and mind-boggling internet content delivered directly to your inbox.
Naturally, fans of Roan (and of queer music in general) aren’t happy with the edits. It’s a well-known rule that when you’re singing karaoke or covering a song, your own sexuality goes out the window. If that means you become gay for three and a half minutes, so be it. “Changing a lesbian/lgbtq+ song lyrics to fit into a heteronormative narrative is just distasteful,” one user wrote.
Related
A word of advice for the user behind the controversial post: A gay man and a lesbian don’t make for a convincing straight couple.
The rapper said he and Roan are “Good and Hot to Go” after criticizing her treatment of fans in a holiday special.
A word of advice to Geronimo, or to anyone looking for a song to cover: If singing from the perspective of a lesbian makes you uncomfortable, it’s best to choose a muse other than Chappell Roan.
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
