She Gets the Job Done: Gender and Genre in “The Giver”

Chappell Roan’s new gay country banger!

Last Friday, Chappell Roan finally released her new gay country hit, “The Giver.” Chappell fans and TikTok lesbians were already familiar with the song, which she debuted on SNL back in November, but its promotion and release has stirred up new excitement for her follow-up album to The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. To expand upon promotional posters depicting Roan in traditionally male occupations, she put out an elaborate lyric video in the form of a retro infomercial advertising her services in these jobs. As a drag performer, Roan has often played with gender and extravagant aesthetics in her makeup and costumes. While these are typically hyper-feminine or otherwise theatrical, for “The Giver,” she has adopted a masculine look to complement its themes. With the song’s celebration of sapphic sex, most of the innuendos in the lyrics are self-evident, but an analysis of gender and genre is most revealing of its implications.

Sweet and Sexy

Roan opens the first verse by setting the scene after establishing the country sound with the fiddle riff: “Ain’t got antlers on my walls / But I sure know mating calls / From the stalls in the bars on a Friday night.” Although this song is about the speaker taking over a traditionally male role, she makes a point to distinguish herself from men and their iconography surrounding hunting culture and aggression.¹ She posits herself as a better alternative for other women—a “Femininomenon,” if you will. The reference to “mating calls” follows the animal imagery of “antlers” while introducing the sexual nature of the song and the speaker’s attunement to women’s desires. Her mention of the bar setting taps into another country music trope, reclaiming it in a feminine context.

She steps into her confidence at the expense of men: “And other boys may need a map / But I can close my eyes / And have you wrapped around my fingers like that.” Roan jokes about “other boys” not understanding the female anatomy—in the lyric video, her detective character peers through binoculars on this line. She then uses a play on “wrapped around my finger” to denote blind infatuation and sexual attraction. Throughout the song, the speaker brags about her sexual prowess in a manner that men often do in popular music; at the same time, she exposes their confidence as unjustified.

620-HOT-TO-GO

In the pre-chorus, Roan expands on the worker metaphor: “When you need the job done / You can call me, baby.” The five roles that she plays in the lyric video are plumber, construction worker, detective, dentist, and lawyer—all occupations that are hired to get a particular “job done.” These are also traditionally male professions, so she wears costumes based on a masculine silhouette and puts on a stern face throughout much of the video. The phrase “call me, baby,” though reminiscent of the “Good Luck, Babe!” pre-chorus, specifically alludes to the concept of recruiting someone in a specific profession for help. Roan’s promotion of the song and all its visuals lean into this metaphor; she even used billboards with the phone number “620-HOT-TO-GO” on them which, when called, would play snippets of “The Giver.”²

In the chorus, Roan continues to address the muse and talk up what she can bring to the relationship: “‘Cause you ain’t gotta tell me / It’s just in my nature / So take it like a taker / ‘Cause, baby, I’m a giver.” The use of Southern slang, particularly “ain’t,” adds another country element to the song. The phrase “in my nature” indicates that the speaker inherently knows when and how to please a woman. At the same time, it could be a reference to homosexuality being a natural quality that she was born with, in a subtle criticism of the homophobia prevalent in the country music industry and beyond. The terms “giver” and “taker” refer to sexual roles, and by claiming the former, the speaker emphasizes her skill and prioritizes the muse. She ends the chorus with the song’s tagline: “Ain’t no country boy quitter / I get the job done.” Unlike a “country boy quitter” who fails and gives up, she successfully satisfies her lover.³

Trucks and Dreams

The second verse further distinguishes the speaker from country music men: “Girl, I don’t need no lifted truck / Revvin’ loud to pick you up / ‘Cause how I look is how I touch.” Roan plays on the widespread joke that country music revolves around trucks. Whereas men like to brag about their trucks (some might say they are overcompensating), the speaker doesn’t need to impress the muse in this superficial manner. Her “look” and “touch” are the same; it’s all laid out with no pretenses.

The next lyrics add a socioeconomic element to the song: “And in this strip-mall town of dreams / Good luck finding a man who has the means / To rhinestone cowgirl all night long.” The “strip-mall town of dreams” describes the environment that Roan grew up in, surrounded by country music in the Midwest but without much in the way of unique businesses or notable places beyond the local mall. Everyone in this town has “dreams” of a more exciting or glamorous life—something that Roan has achieved through her success in the music industry. The speaker puts herself above the men in terms of fame and fortune as well with words like “means” and “rhinestone.” Even beyond the sexual meaning of “rhinestone cowgirl,” she has more to offer the muse than the men she’s competing against. This phrase is also a reference to “Rhinestone Cowboy,” a song by country singer Glen Campbell that Roan reframes in a queer context.

You’re Welcome

The second pre-chorus has a lyric change: “If you never had one / You can call me, baby.” This time, there is a double meaning in the word “one”: it could mean never had a lover—a “baby”—but it could also mean never had an orgasm. Both are simultaneous digs at the men who have been interested in the muse in the past. After a repetition of the chorus, the “na-na-na” refrain comes in to replicate the fiddle melody, followed by a group of men singing “she gets the job done” an octave lower with a thick country twang. This choice adds to the song’s sense of comedy, as even the men Roan has been ridiculing don’t argue with her and instead join in. In the lyric video, this section is accompanied by over-the-top slow motion phallic imagery associated with the occupations (drill, plunger, and gavel).

To finish up the song, Roan belts out some adlibs on the “I get the job done” lyric, perfectly demonstrating her musical prowess and ability to succeed at her “job” in this genre of music. The last few lines are spoken: “Yes, ma’am, yes, I do / You’re welcome.” These once again contribute to the song’s humor while reinforcing the Southern vocabulary with “ma’am.” The speaker’s smug attitude carries through to the end in this performance of the masculine turned feminine. Roan challenges heteronormative gender roles, not only when it comes to sex, but also within the music industry, carving out a space for lesbian expression in the country genre. This cheeky song also opens the door for experimentation with other genres and writing about specific subjects in new contexts. Ultimately, Roan’s commitment to performed gender in her musical project has the potential to continue to challenge the status quo and push boundaries in search of fresh storytelling and perspectives.

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1. In an iconic caricature of toxic masculinity, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast boasts of his manliness by singing: "I use antlers in all of my decorating." This immediately came to mind when I heard this first verse!

2. The lyric video also lists the titles of other songs that are expected to be on Roan's second album—perhaps other clues or Easter eggs are hidden throughout the video?

3. As a whole, this song addresses the "orgasm gap" and discrepancies in sexual experiences between women compared to between men and women.