When it was first released, Noah Kahan’s song “Stick Season” became an instant anthem for an entire generation that was growing up during the Covid pandemic. Most Gen Z and millennials know the lyrics, even if they can’t recall ever listening to the song in its entirety.
Despite the song’s popularity, Noah Kahan is far from a one-hit-wonder—the 4x platinum album following the title track has remained in the Top 15 best selling albums three years after its release.
In December 2025, Kahan launched a secret TikTok account cleverly named @thelastofthebugs after an iconic lyric from the 14th and final song on Stick Season: “The View Between Villages.”
The account was initially believed to be a fan account before it began teasing clips of unreleased songs, and later on announcing his fourth studio album, The Great Divide, which has debuted at No.1 on Billboard 200 following its release. Not even a full day after he dropped the album, Kahan announced and released the extended version, The Great Divide: The Last Of The Bugs, which included four extra songs that were sprinkled throughout the album instead of at the end like most extended versions.
The first song the TikTok account teased was “Porch Light,” the second single released before the album, following the title track “The Great Divide” which was released in late January 2025.
“The Great Divide” starts out with a beautiful blend of acoustic guitar, banjo, and piano. The song is heartbreaking, written from the perspective of someone reflecting on the emotional distance between themself and an old friend, thick with the regret and guilt of not noticing their struggles and trauma at the time. The lyrics “I heard nothin’ but the bass in every ballad that you play / While you swore to God the singer read your mind” is a metaphor that represents the song’s dynamic really well, as it depicts the singer missing all the cues that their friend was struggling. The track also highlights religious trauma with the line “…and not your soul, and what he might do with it.” The title of the song and the album reinforce the unspoken distance because of one friend’s struggles and the other’s inability to understand, ending with a sad but hopeful call that they’re doing okay even if they can’t be the one to help them. “23,” the 10th track on the album, similarly contrasts past memories with a person before their struggle with addiction and mental health issues, and selfishly wishing they could go back to how things were.
The album starts off with “The End of August,” a song that begins with a soft piano and the sounds of bugs in the summer. Kahan sings about how at the end of August, “the bugs are just starting to die.” As the song progresses, the energy increases and the piano becomes louder as Kahan sings about his home-state, Vermont.
Fans like to joke that Kahan only ever sings about Vermont, which has a level of truth to it as he continues in the second track on the album by saying “Foot of ice across Vermont / And in that dark, and in that frost, a heart was formed.” “Doors” explores a narrative of avoidant attachment; the doors he references represent emotional barriers between him and his partner due to past trauma. This is best represented in the chorus, when he says “I keep showing you doors, but you can’t open them up.”
Similar to previous songs, Kahan explores the intricacies of his relationships with friends, family, and Vermont in the third track, “American Cars.” Though similar in meaning, the Kahan creates a different sound in this track. “American Cars” takes on a more indie-rock tone with an almost up-beat feel. It feels very similar to “She Calls me Back,” from Stick Season. Kahan sings about himself from an outside perspective of family or friends when he says “But you’re here, and we’re so grateful you are,” because of his guilt of being away due to his fame. The motif of cars occurs throughout many of Kahan’s songs. They represent an escape from reality or even running away from one’s duties as a family member or friend.
“Downfall” follows a more intimate sound with less of the electric guitar and banjo and more stripped back and raw. Fans speculate that the song is supposed to be paired with “You’re Gonna Go Far” from Stick Season. Similar to “American Cars,” Kahan sings from a perspective of someone else who is rooting on his downfall. The song explores his guilt of leaving Vermont because of the fame that comes with being one of the largest artists today. “Spoiled” explores having to grapple with this fame, while simultaneously wishing to protect his future children from his exhausting career.
The first extended track, “Lighthouse,” is a very melancholy song that gives the feeling of a foggy, cold day at the beach. The theme of a lighthouse gives reference to the cover picture of Cape Elizabeth, Kahan’s popular EP. Following “Lighthouse,” the track “Paid Time Off” is a deep, multifaceted song that delves into one of Kahan’s relationships, either platonic or romantic. The lines, “And your love is like an open flame / I’m a running car and you’re a closed garage,” show that this relationship seemed sweet and perfect on the outside but at a deeper level was almost suffocating.
“Deny, Deny, Deny” explores a narrative of dealing with a defensive loved one who won’t admit to any wrongdoing. The song dives into the exhaustion of a push-and-pull relationship, while fighting to take care of them through it all. It takes an opposing side from some of the other songs, singing from the perspective of someone living with an avoidant loved one and not the other way around. The song focuses a lot on a lack of confrontation, as seen in the line “Another thing we don’t talk about anymore.” There is an emphasis on becoming so used to the defensiveness that they don’t even try to confront them anymore, especially where he says “And it’s fine, I know the company line / When I ask about the past you deny-ny-ny.”
The earlier tracks “Willing and Able” and “Dashboard” fulfill the perspectives of who could be interpreted as the same two people from “Deny Deny Deny.” As majorly discussed in “Willing and Able,” one of them is regretting leaving, and the other is telling them that if they come back they can work it out.
“Dashboard” is also a callback to “You’re Gonna Go Far” from Stick Season. “You’re Gonna Go Far” encourages a loved one to leave if they need to, if things get too hard, specifically with the line “Say whatever you feel, be wherever you are / We ain’t angry at you, love / You’re the greatest thing we’ve lost.” “Dashboard” takes the other side, focusing on the regret and the pain that the person left behind. The song starts off with that blame, claiming, “You always went looking for an easy way out / Leave the pain you can’t solve with the folks you let down.” This is a drastic change from “You’re Gonna Go Far,” suggesting that the same people telling them to go didn’t truly feel that way, or regretted telling them it was okay in the first place. “Dashboard” focuses on the fact that they can drive away, but they won’t ever be able to escape their past. The line “Just when you think that the road’s straight ahead / When the devil shows up on your dashboard again” reinforces this.
“Orbiter” has been interpreted as a love song by many fans, due to the line “I’m an astronaut, you’re the moon / I sing to you, I stare at you… I circle you.” In reality, Kahan isn’t singing to someone he loves, but something—he is singing to the career he has and is scared to lose. The song is very personal, about feeling like an outsider in the spotlight; it depicts fame as something isolating and inducing of imposter syndrome.
“All Them Horses” is a reflection on fame, which many of Kahan’s songs illustrate through a melancholy lens of disconnect from his home and life before becoming famous. It is filled with the guilt of leaving his roots for a more lavish lifestyle, specifically honing in not being there for the 2023 floods in Vermont. The line “See the dried flood lines on the neighbors’ porches” shares his emotions after seeing the aftermath of the damage his family and friends had to withstand, while he was somewhere else. The song dwells on the feeling of leaving a mundane life for something more extravagant, and not having the ability to go back no matter how much he wants to. The song’s chorus builds up with the lyrics “Everyone looks happy in a photograph, I / Crossed the county line, I cannot go back,” proving that divide between fame and home, where home arguably brought more happiness.
“Haircut,” the seventh track on the album, reinforces this same divide, but instead of being written from Kahan’s perspective, it is coming from that of people he left at home. The lyrics “Just to say that some small fame ain’t made me someone else” and “You ain’t a goddamn hero now ‘cause you cry on live TV” are examples of this, and show Kahan’s immense guilt for leaving his old life. “Headed North” explores a similar theme, in which Kahan sings about how returning to his Vermont roots would allow him to find grounding and peace in the light of his fame.
“We Go Way Back,” finds peace in this domesticity and rejection of fame. The first lyric says “Saw the world from up close, it ain’t much to look at / Compared to you in your work clothes, waving hello from the driveway.” “A Few of Your Own” is a hopeful love song with this same theme—finding security during a tumultuous time in one’s life.
“Staying Still,” one of the four bonus tracks on the album, is a song Kahan has teased for a long time, and is one fans were hoping to see on the album. It is very high energy, but also sad, describing the feeling of being stuck while life moves all around you. It blends this with anxiety over an increasing distance in a relationship due to this “stuck-ness.” The lyrics repeatedly ask “Are you good at staying still?” The song reflects on the fact that the narrator believes that everyone they love will leave, and that they’re waiting for someone to stay—that they’re willing to do anything to convince them to. The lyrics “I’m racking my brain for the one line / That would change your mind / Showing you plane crashes online,” represents him coming up with excuse after excuse to keep them “staying still”.
The final song on the album, “Dan,” is a tribute to a lifelong friend, someone who knows all of your secrets, drawing up themes of friendship, grief, and connection. “Dan” is a reassurance that even as distance might grow between two people, the connection that they once had is always strong because of how deeply they understand each other. The song finds comfort in silence, painting a picture of Noah and Dan camping and “waiting for the sun to rise.” The lyric “Think I stood right here back when Carlo died,” is a callback to “Carlo’s Song” on Kahan’s album Busyhead, and is an example of something difficult Kahan and his friend Dan went through together—showing how they did and still do support one another. “Dan” is a perfect way to wrap up The Great Divide because of the tear-springing nostalgia and comfort it brings with the chorus “‘Cause I’m with my best friend Dan now,” insinuating that everything is okay simply because they’re together.
