Ever since her debut performance on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 2, 2024, Chappell Roan fans have been eagerly awaiting the official release of her country song “The Giver.” After weeks of teaser billboards across the country with numbers to hotlines to hear a snippet, Roan *finally* dropped the track and an accompanying lyric video on March 14. However, dedicated fans noticed something missing amid the studio lyrics — the spoken word bridge she featured in her SNL performance has been reduced to a series of “na na na na” and “she gets the job done.”
During the performance, Roan said over the bridge, “All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right. Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right.”
A moment of silence for the line that was sure to be a “Femininomenon” once it hit the radio.
Roan fans know that she rarely does anything without due reason, whether it’s putting together her drag looks or bringing a notebook up onto the Grammy’s stage to read her acceptance speech while calling for change. So, there was a reason behind the omitted bridge in the studio version of “The Giver.”
On Discord, Roan explained, “We tried a lot of different things for the bridge, but it was so f*cking annoying, nothing was working. So I left it blank because I have a surprise for when I do it live.” So when her next tour starts, you know you’re in for a treat that’ll give similar vibes to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Nonsense” outros and “Juno” positions!
Despite Roan’s reasoning for not including the spoken word bridge in the studio version, fans are still not OK with this and have taken to X/ Twitter to voice their thoughts.
so why exactly did chappell take out the bridge in the giver?? pic.twitter.com/FtpQVIs00G
— syd🫶🏾 (@thisissydtrying) March 14, 2025
the giver snl bridge you will always be remembered pic.twitter.com/jwDop3Egbo
— soph! (@sourgenius) March 14, 2025
chappell roan not including the little spoken word bridge in the studio version of the giver is criminal. i did not wait two months for this girl.
— cirice 🫀 (@vespermancy) March 14, 2025
I LOVE THE GIVER but those men in the bridge made me jump the first time pic.twitter.com/q3VJVLo1DX
— reb⸆⸉ 🫧 (@torturedgaga) March 14, 2025
WDYM THE GIVER BRIDGE IS NOT ON THE STUDIO VERSION…PLEASE SAY SIKE RN OR I WILL END IT ALL pic.twitter.com/pGmyCYlYTq
— sam 🍓 guts spilled mx n1! (@lovearcadez) March 13, 2025
Fun is a key component of Roan’s perspective on this song. As she said on a March episode of Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen, she was inspired by the fun of “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” by Big & Rich. “I was like, ‘I want to feel that way on stage. I want to feel that,’” she said. “Because that’s how I write. I’m like, ‘How do I want to walk around on stage and sing?’ And I was like, ‘I want to write that song, but Chappell’s version.’”
While I’m disappointed in “The Giver” not having the SNL bridge on the studio version, I am looking forward to what Roan comes up with in her future performances. After all, we know she gets the job done!