X<\/a> in March to write: \u201cWhat if the album just sucks so bad lol would be sad for me but lowkey funny considering the build up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tBut by April 22, just two days before its arrival, he veered from comedic self-deprecation to gratitude, sharing on the platform: \u201cI\u2019m in the exact same hotel room I was in when I played my show at MSG in 2024. Hard not to remember how insurmountable my loneliness and insecurity seemed to be in that moment of my life. I\u2019m sitting here now smiling not because my album comes out tomorrow night or because I have \u2018succeeded\u2019 in any way since, but because I can live with being exactly who I am and I owe that all to you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBelow, find our ranking of all 17 tracks on The Great Divide.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHeaded North\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHeaded North\u201d brings back the familiar field noise that opens the album on \u201cEnd of August,\u201d and otherwise stands out for being a twangy, stripped-down acoustic track that sounds like it could\u2019ve been recorded during a discreet busking session. Lyrically, it reads like a rambling, slightly self-conscious voicemail from someone who wishes they had more to say to the person they miss the most: \u201cNo, there ain\u2019t nothing new to report\/ But I hope you\u2019re bored and headed north.\u201d Kahan manages to convey the ache on both ends of the line, hinting at the guilt of being the one who left \u2014 and whose updates are likely a bit more meaty.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSpoiled\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tNaturally, after following a love song like \u201cWe Go Way Back,\u201d Kahan has kids on the mind. On \u201cSpoiled,\u201d he wonders what kind of wealth he\u2019ll raise his family to appreciate. \u201cI\u2019m betting on the north, to drag my ass back down to earth,\u201d says Kahan. \u201cGonna be rich in our own way\/ I swear you\u2019re gonna get it, kid.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\tIt seems that a future family could be more of a near-reality than far-off musing, as in the middle of the track Kahan just might be soft-launching a break: \u201cIf I\u2019m gone this time next year\u2026F\u2013k it I might even disappear, I hope you\u2019ve had a decent time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPaid Time Off\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tComplete with a hummed bridge, \u201cPaid Time Off\u201d plays like a campfire tune that could just as well be a cautionary tale about never leaving home as it is an appreciation for small town living. \u201cIt\u2019s been a damn near perfect day,\u201d sings Kahan, \u201cJust getting high at the outlet mall\/ Most people grow up and they move away\/ But you don\u2019t care and I don\u2019t mind at all.\u201d He later admits that, \u201cI had the brains for a city job\/ But you got the taste of a country cop.\u201d There\u2019s a nonchalant acceptance to the song, which comes into focus when Kahan concludes that in the end, we\u2019re all doing the same thing anyway: \u201cmaking a livin\u2019 workin\u2019 for the paid time off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDashboard\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBy this point in the album (nine tracks in), there\u2019s been a fair amount of car talk: the act of driving, the manner of driving, the kind of car and what\u2019s on the dashboard. Here, there\u2019s a continued theme of crossing state lines and outrunning shadows, only Kahan has reached a boiling point. \u201cYou\u2019re an a\u2013hole,\u201d he repeats (five times) throughout the track \u2014 and with more bite than anywhere else on the album.<\/p>\n
\t\u201c23\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHaving \u201c23\u201d immediately follow \u201cDashboard\u201d (on which Kahan repeats, \u201cYou\u2019re an a\u2013hole, after all\u201d) cements a distinct link between the two. If \u201cDashboard\u201d is about realizing who someone is and always will be, \u201c23\u201d is about working to accept that \u2014 and the challenge of letting go of who they once were, or who you hoped they would be. \u201cIf I never see you again, you could be anything I want. \u2026 It can all be the way that it was\/ If you stay gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tStill, that\u2019s easier said than done \u2014 especially with a reminder so prominently placed: \u201cTattooed your initials into my right arm\/ So I\u2019d see your name when I lift up a drink.\u201d Whether Kahan wants this person out of their life or their memories, \u201c23\u201d hints at unresolved tension \u2014 and the willpower of one-sided closure.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDan\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIf \u201cWe Go Way Back\u201d is an ode to his relationship with his wife, album closer \u201cDan\u201d is an ode to his best friend for similar reasons \u2014 they too go back, prompting a trip down memory lane for The Great Divide\u2018s finale. On \u201cDan,\u201d Kahan attempts to verbalize the indescribable bond that stems from knowing someone over time by recounting memories both good and bad \u2014 \u201cHand around a Miller Lite, waiting for the sun to rise,\u201d he sings, before later recalling, \u201cThink I stood right here when Carlo died\/ Said I hated the way I made it all about me.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\tKahan is now facing the fact that his life has completely changed \u2014 and that even a friendship like his with Dan isn\u2019t immune. \u201cThrough the dying light of a flashlight lens, you tried to tell me how unfair it is\/ That I have what I have and you got what you got\/ Said I\u2019d give it all back if I could, I cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWith any divide, there are two distinct sides. But this is the great divide, and it\u2019s songs like \u201cDan\u201d that lead listeners to consider that it\u2019s not so black and white. Across the album, Kahan reflects on how his relationships have been impacted by fame \u2014 including the one he has with himself \u2014 but it\u2019s the album\u2019s last few songs that begin to explore what a return could look like, if that\u2019s even possible. Or if that\u2019s even what he wants \u2014 or if he even knows. <\/p>\n
\n\tAnd with such questions lingering, how could Kahan not write a fifth album?<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe Go Way Back\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile Kahan has managed to preserve and protect his relationship through his rise, \u201cWe Go Way Back\u201d lets listeners into the bond he and his wife share: a comfort he can\u2019t find anywhere else. \u201cSaw the world from up close, it ain\u2019t much to look at\/ Compared to you in your work clothes, waving hello from the driveway,\u201d he sings. <\/p>\n
\n\tThroughout, he notes the sacrifices that come with his career, \u201cthe late flights and missed birthdays,\u201d and expresses gratitude for having a partner he goes \u201cway back\u201d with. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen me in places so low, you can recognize when it\u2019s real bad,\u201d he sings. But it\u2019s the quiet of home that he appreciates most: \u201cOut here, I can hear your heartbeat, I can hear the start of a long sigh\/ I can hear the song of the robin, I haven\u2019t written my own in a long time\/ And it\u2019s just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDownfall\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe plucking, acoustic riff of \u201cDownfall\u201d offers exactly what it needs to: a no-frills backdrop for Kahan to express the exact kind of thoughts typically reserved for two best friends plotting against an ex. \u201cI\u2019ll keep rooting for your downfall,\u201d he sings, but in typical Kahan fashion there\u2019s a twist. Here, he\u2019s not hoping or even expecting himself to emerge a winner, he\u2019s hoping that they both lose \u2014 and as a result, deserve each other. \u201cCall me when it goes to sh\u2013,\u201d he requests. \u201cI don\u2019t mind being your dead end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDeny Deny Deny\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite the uptempo, even upbeat production of \u201cDeny Deny Deny\u201d there\u2019s a long-simmering frustration at its core. As Kahan airs his annoyance about those who deny the past \u2014 or worse, don\u2019t speak of it at all \u2014 he\u2019s simultaneously letting it go. \u201cI used to care to know your secrets,\u201d he sings, later concluding, \u201cI\u2019m far too tired\u2026Let\u2019s just watch TV.\u201d While \u201cDeny\u201d isn\u2019t among the most lyrically dense tracks on the album, the catchy chorus, on which Kahan skillfully swings his voice into different registers, will surely warrant sing-alongs on tour.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHaircut\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHaircut\u201d is an echo chamber of all the worst things Kahan has internalized \u2014 regardless of who said them, be it the internet, his family and friends or even himself. \u201cYou ain\u2019t a goddamn hero now \u2019cause you cry on live TV\u201d; \u201cYou grew your hair out long\/ Now you think you\u2019re Jesus Christ\u201d; \u201cGot bored\u2026Left us for The New York Times\u201c; \u201cSpare us all the pity, love\/ Save it for the microphone\u201d; and the worst offender that closes the song, \u201cWe\u2019re fine without you, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut through it all, he reminds himself on each chorus, \u201cAt least I got a soul still.\u201d And as the song goes on, it becomes more and more unclear in which direction each jab is aimed or who is even throwing the punch \u2014 but that\u2019s the point. It hurts all the same.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDoors\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSure, you could argue \u201cDoors\u201d is about opportunity \u2014 but the opportunity to leave. Throughout the track, Kahan explains that he keeps showing people doors to leave him through \u2014 or even to just see him through \u2014 sharing that he\u2019s \u201ctrouble ahead\u201d and \u201cscreams in his sleep,\u201d even going as far as to list the many reasons \u201cyou should pack all your s\u2013t up.\u201d He later apologizes for jumping at the sound of rattling keys, assuming that his fear of being left is finally happening, despite suggesting that\u2019s exactly what should happen.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a fresh take on the trope of pushing someone away with the not-so-secret hope that they\u2019ll see through it and stay. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cAmerican Cars\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was working on a plan to disappear completely\/ Gaslighting my friends into thinkin\u2019 I was busy,\u201d Kahan admits on \u201cAmerican Cars.\u201d It\u2019s a lyrically layered, profound track that is, in part, about feeling grateful for getting help at home, especially when, as Kahan says, \u201cWe\u2019re drowning here, and I gotta stay for mom.\u201d The song spotlights the sadness of a familiar cycle despite everything else changing \u2014 and how the subtlest reminders of time away can hit hardest. \u201cDidn\u2019t know you drove American cars,\u201d Kahan sings, evidence of a disconnect. But no matter how much time has passed or how much has changed, the question remains: \u201cWe would talk so much, and it\u2019s fine we don\u2019t\/ But can you come home?\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\tAnd spoiler alert: though unspoken, the answer is always yes.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWilling and Able\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t \u201cWilling and Able\u201d is the kind of chilling, hard-to-swallow song that could either become an emotional standout in a live show or relegated to the rarely-performed ranking. It sounds like a real-time battle between how Kahan sees himself compared to how he\u2019s perceived by someone closest to him: \u201cThey all say you\u2019re a light, all I see is a shadow\/ And I\u2019ll see you again in six months, when you need your next song.\u201d The longer the song plays out, the more ambiguous the title becomes, while the cost of being both willing and able seems to add up to an unfair sum. That is, until the final line, when a compromise is offered: \u201cIf you\u2019re willing, I\u2019m able.\u201d <\/p>\n
\t\u201cAll Them Horses\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs the second-to-last song on the album, \u201cAll Them Horses\u201d packs an unexpected punch for a track that comes so late in the game. For an artist as vulnerable as Kahan, the story he tells here manages to crack him open even more. Built around the memory of crying for \u201call them horses\u201d in a long-ago hometown flood, Kahan recounts how they didn\u2019t seem scared \u2014 and in saying so, admits that he currently is. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cGonna dance around and sing about my pain\/ Okay, it pays,\u201d he says at the top of the track. \u201cYou know I wanna beat it, I wanna beat it bad\/ Oh, everyone looks happy in a photograph.\u201d For much of the song, Kahan talks around his mental health battle and how his career in the spotlight and away from home can intensify his feelings. It\u2019s not until the bridge that he confronts it, admitting: \u201cMaybe I\u2019m manic again, but I think this time I\u2019m out for good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tEither way, he reminds himself again of the horses, and how regardless of their situation, \u201cthey did not look scared at all.\u201d And each time he repeats the line, it becomes a mantra of sorts to guide Kahan through whatever comes next. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cPorch Light\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPorch Light\u201d is a shining example of how Kahan so seamlessly and painstakingly delivers the perspectives of those closest to him across The Great Divide. Here, it\u2019s that of his mother, or any mother, who worries about their kid (so, all mothers) \u2014 and in Kahan\u2019s case, the worrying is a specific strain that comes with fame. <\/p>\n
\n\tWith each verse, the exhaustion from it all becomes evident: \u201cI would ask how you\u2019ve been\/ It\u2019s all over the internet\u2026It is not irrelevant that you stopped taking your medicine,\u201d he sings on the first verse. \u201cI hope you tell me that you\u2019re winding down\/ That whatever made you famous made you sick,\u201d goes the second. And by the third verse, there\u2019s a shift in tone, \u201cYou act like we just sit up here and wait for you to reappear.\u201d Still, the sentiment is the same, that no matter what, she\u2019ll always leave the porch light on \u2014 even at the cost of heartbreak each morning \u201cwhen it\u2019s me that turns it off,\u201d realizing that her boy still hasn\u2019t come home yet.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cEnd of August\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOpening with the perfectly-captured buzz of a warm summer night, \u201cEnd of August\u201d immediately places listeners at the close of summer. Beginning as an intimate piano ballad that over the course of its five minutes swells into a full-throttled goodbye to the season, the track already fulfills a promise Kahan made on X: \u201ci do not care about the weather you will be sad this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWith \u201cEnd of August,\u201d Kahan delicately dances through the conflicting emotions that the end of summer stirs, a time that brings about a premature sadness and longing for something that isn\u2019t even over yet. It\u2019s a fitting start for The Great Divide, as it seems a similar feeling shadowed Kahan\u2019s rise through Stick Season \u2014 and now that it is over, he can finally try to make sense of it all.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe Great Divide\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe Great Divide\u201d is one of those perfectly picked, highly-potent title track\/lead single combos that manages to preview the entirety of the album\u2019s 17 tracks while only scratching the surface. The swelling production signals the intensity of the song\u2019s message (especially the raging, wailing guitar solo) and welcomes listeners into the leveled-up field Kahan now bats in. <\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, the gut-wrenching lyrics carry a knowing pain of anyone who has \u201cinched across the great divide\u201d or watched someone else, and suggest a maturation in admitting \u201cYou know I think about you all the time, and my deep misunderstanding of your life\/ And how bad it must have been for you back then, and how hard it was to keep it all inside.\u201d It\u2019s an emotional cocktail of understanding, regret, forgiveness and well-wishing \u2014 and no matter if the message itself is too late, the release is right on time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Somehow, it\u2019s been four years since Noah Kahan\u2019s career-shifting album Stick Season was released in 2022. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,9262,498,226038,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-603445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-genre-rock","10":"tag-music-news","11":"tag-tracks-ranked","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}