Tender, cinematic, and overflowing with love, “Forever” is an achingly beautiful send-off; one that ends the Stick Season saga on the highest high, as Noah Kahan lets the love in.
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Stream: “Forever” – Noah Kahan
I realized I was writing about perspective. The idea that a place can remain the exact same physically but becomes totally different as our lives and our experiences change.
Tender, cinematic, and overflowing with love, “Forever” is a fitting finale to Noah Kahan’s Stick Season saga.
A soft, soul-stirring folk-pop confessional that grows from gentle, hushed balladry into a spirited stomp-and-holler celebration, the track captures so many facets of the artistry Kahan has realized, and wholeheartedly embraced, over these past two years.
The Vermont singer/songwriter creates an achingly beautiful experience that is at once intimate and epic as he wears his heart unconditionally on his sleeve, singing about eternity and fresh perspectives, old demons and insecurities, opening up and letting love in.
Let’s drive for no reason,
let’s see where these wheels land
Let’s grind down the curve of this earth
You look fine in the evening and,
honey, it’s starting to storm
When we kissed in the car
in the school parking lot
Where I’d go with my friends to get drunk
Used to wish I meant
anything to anywhere, to anyone
When forever was a sentence,
sentence to death
Oh, when you wеre a running tear,
I was a drop of sweat
And, thе edges of your soul,
I haven’t seen yet
Now I’m glad I get forever
to see where you end
He’s still the same small-town kid from Strafford, population 1,075 – and letting someone in means sharing his special places – both physical, and in memory – with them. It also means letting go, to a certain extent, and creating space to make new memories and build a new life, together.
Kahan rises from a fragile, ethereal, shiver-inducing Bon Iver-esque pre-chorus to a sonically and emotionally charged chorus that calls to mind the folk rock sounds of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers – and he does it all while seamlessly staying authentic to himself:
I won’t be alone for the rest of my life
I’ll build a boat for when the river gets high
And I’ll meet a girl in the heat of July
And I’ll tell her so she knows
That I’m broke, but I’m real rich in my head
That I broke a bone that never healed in my hand
So, when I hold her close
I might loosen my grip, but I won’t ever let her go
I won’t ever let her go
“Forever” is the namesake to Stick Season‘s final form, the two-hour long Stick Season (Forever), out February 9, 2024 via Mercury Records / Republic Records.
“Forever is a long time,” Kahan shares. “This album cycle has felt like forever, and I’ve loved every second of it. I have loved living in this world. I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin, more proud of what I was representing in my songwriting, and more vindicated by the response to a record that was really an extension of my soul. When I sat down to write ‘Forever’ with Gabe Simon, I didn’t know I would be sealing off the album with it. I thought it might just be a nice standalone single, but as I listened to the story, I realized I was writing about perspective. The idea that a place can remain the exact same physically but becomes totally different as our lives and our experiences change.”
“The word ‘forever’ used to terrify me,” he continues. “I hate finality, there is too much uncertainty and boredom affiliated with ‘the rest of time.’ Now though, I’ve found forever to mean there is limitless possibility. There is so much joy in the world, waiting to be found. That is something that Stick Season has shown me, that this year has shown me. Sometimes it just takes a change in perspective.”
“I hope you enjoy these songs, I hope they continue to find you in the times you most need them, like they did for me. I do not know what is next, but I’m glad I get forever to find it.”
The second verse of “Forever” sees Kahan reveling in more recent memories – sometimes based in old haunts, and sometimes in new places – as he basks in the glow of intimacy.
Remember when we called the cops
‘Cause I got too high, and you got scared
And the cops just laughed?
We can’t make rent, so we window-shop
In the Upper West Side, oh, my God
Could you imagine that?
It’s that shared special connection so many of us are striving for; that Kahan, himself, doubted for so long. Now that he’s found it, a new world has revealed itself to him – and he’s never letting go.
“Forever” is romantic; there’s an element of infatuation, of love’s intoxication, to the song, but as we understand from Kahan himself, the song extends beyond the experience of a crush; it’s about being open to what the world can offer us, if we open ourselves to it first. It’s about optimism, and learning to look up.
This is what a musical smile sounds like. Graceful and gorgeous, vulnerable and dramatic, “Forever” is a powerful send-off; one that ends Stick Season on the highest high, as Noah Kahan lets the love in.
I won’t be alone for the rest of my life
I’ll build a boat for when the river gets high
And I’ll meet a girl in the heat of July
And I’ll tell her so she knows
That I’m broke, but I’m real rich in my head
That I broke a bone that never healed in my hand
So, when I hold her close
I might loosen my grip, but I won’t ever let her go
I won’t ever let her go
When forever was a sentence, sentence to death
Oh, when you were a running tear, I was a drop of sweat
And, the edges of your soul, I haven’t seen yet
Now I’m glad I get forever to see where you end
To see where you end
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:: stream/purchase Stick Season (Forever) here ::
:: connect with Noah Kahan here ::
Stream: “Forever” – Noah Kahan
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