It may not be the season of the sticks, but Noah Kahan is back with a long-awaited album titled The Great Divide. The tracks explore guilt and growing away from friends through physical and emotional distancing. Per usual, each song is thick with metaphor and meaning, and the lyrics are stuffed with Vermont-loving Easter eggs.
Here’s a breakdown of all the album’s tracks:
1. “End of August”
The first track features a quiet intro of the sweet tapping of keys and humming of bugs. The instrumental provides a gentle golden hour ambience. Behind all the richness lies a simple meaning: Noah’s heart lies in Vermont, but he’s frustrated with how nothing changes.
2. “Doors”
“Doors” is a song Noah performed many times before the April 24th release. He even included a snippet in his Netflix documentary. Quick and characterized by the uptempo drum pattern, this song reflects on a relationship marred by Noah’s trust issues, insecurities. and unnecessary, apologetic sorrow towards his lover.
3. “American Cars”
Indie and rock are infused into a twangy tune in the third song of the album. “American Cars” describes a narrator pleading for him to return home from sparkly touring and the glamorous lifestyle of fame. At home lies a fragile relationship, and Noah must “patch it up.”
4. “Downfall”
Together, Noah’s heartfelt vocals and an intimate melody creates the vulnerable and sincere song we call “Downfall”. “Kahan seemingly sings from the perspective of his family and friends as they wish him well as he sets off on his quest to become a successful artist,” says Holler.
5. “The Great Divide”
The leading single was released in late January and immediately caught fire on the internet. But even before January, Kahan played the song live and in posted clips. It’s angsty, rock-leaning, and heavy-laden with reverb. “The Great Divide” reflects on a friendship that was once full of love, but has since cracked, perhaps because of a car accident or other traumatic event. Guilt seeps through the lyrics as though the narrator is taking the blame for not trying hard enough to keep the bond strong.
6. “Haircut”
This ballad showcases a rawer, more subdued instrumental; a callback to Stick Season. It’s catchy, but simple, and isn’t that the core of Kahan’s music as a whole? There’s an odd sense of peace exemplified in the song, which is centered around an old friend who he feels is just trying to help him to make themselves feel better for some unknown past conflict.
7. “Willing and Able”
The seventh track of the album is slow and atmospheric. Perhaps this song is sung by Noah, to Noah, from the point of view of an old friend. “Throughout this song,” Holler explains, “he’s seemingly stressing to his old friend that he’s quite happy to delve into their issues and get it all out on the table, if it means they can put an end to this lingering hostility.”
8. “Dashboard”
The acoustic guitar is gentle and sparse, as if the song is quietly beckoning you into Noah’s world. Said guitar helps build the bitter, raw chorus. The melody is jealousy embodied in music, and the meaning is visceral: an envious friend who deals with self-hatred explores keeping friendships amid a rise of success.
9. “23”
“23” is famously about a struggle with addiction. Noah has come forward to say the song is not autobiographical, but instead a quilt of pieced together stories. Instrumentals lay low on this track, emphasizing the real beauty: the lyricism. The protagonist of “23” yearns for a more innocent time which can, unfortunately, never be brought back.
10. “Porch Light”
The quick banjo and classic Noah falsetto remind us all of a different time: the stick season. “Porch Light” carries lingering resentment after a now-successful old friend abandons the narrator. Though the friend achieved glory, they haven’t returned.
11. “Deny Deny Deny”
This track is reminiscent of an indie rock garage band, intense and raging. Fury and exhaustion are tethered to the words, which describe an old friendship Noah is fed up with. He wants to resolve their issues, but he is simply too tired. Thus, he buries his frustrations and acts like there’s nothing wrong.
12. “Headed North”
We are once again blessed with a natural, summer-scented, cricket-chirping song. It sounds as if it was recorded on a hot Vermont lake in August, with only the guitar and vocals to fill the buggy silence. Like much of The Great Divide’s music, the song follows “…Kahan informing his old friend that the police finally caught the guys who blew up the cop-cars, something that clearly happened when they were both still in Vermont.” (Holler)
13. “We Go Way Back”
Ethereal, mystical, and airy, “We Go Way Back” features the quiet hum of reverb and soft vocals. The song is layered with theme and meaning, including the horrors of writer’s block, memories of a much-missed old home, and finding true quietude. The bow on top is the realization that truly, shared love is the only thing that matters.
14. “Spoiled”
This song feels like a pond drenched with flowy weeping willows and lush greenery. And, of course, pure heartbreak. “The first part seemingly touches on Kahan’s decision to move back to Vermont after getting burnt out from living in Nashville.” (Holler) And the next circles around the toxicity of the music industry and the hope that moving back north will give the narrator purpose and peace.
15. “All Them Horses”
“All Them Horses” brings drama and gravitas to the end of the album. The crescendo is worth the slow build, though. The horses in the title are laced in by describing how the horses looked at peace. They’re viewed by Noah as stoic, and admirable. Once again, driving is a key theme, roadkill symbolizing people Noah feels that he’s hurt along the way.
16. “Dan”
Dan is a real person in Noah’s life, and obviously very close to Noah. This song is extremely intimate and uplifting. The composition is bright and hopeful, the joyful acoustic guitar concluding the album with optimism. Though there have been ups and downs in Dan and Noah’s relationship, their love is ultimately triumphant throughout differences and issues.
“From a long silence forms a divide, a great expanse demanding attention. I stare across it. I see old friends, my father, my mother, my siblings, my younger self, the great state of Vermont. I want to scream these feelings, to gesticulate wildly at the figures on the other side, but my voice has grown hoarse and muted after years of climbing a ladder towards the wild, spiraling dreams that have materialized in front of me.” – Noah Kahan
Work Cited
Mower, Maxim, and Noah Kahan. “Noah Kahan’s ‘The Great Divide: The Last Of The Bugs’ – Full Deluxe Album Lyrics & Meanings Guide | Holler.” Holler Country Music, 27 April 2026, https://holler.country/news/general/noah-kahans-the-great-divide-full-album-lyrics-and-meanings-guide/. Accessed 1 May 2026.
