Noah Kahan, The Great Divide | Song Review

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Noah Kahan delivers an expressive vocal performance, intact with clever, honest, poetic lyrics on “The Great Divide.”

Question: “Did you wish that I could know / That you’d fade to some place / I wasn’t brave enough to go?” Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Noah Kahan is the man.  He compelled us with his elite songwriting and his beautiful, expressive voice.  Post-“Stick Season”, Mr. Kahan returns with “The Great Divide”, the promo single and sixth track from his sophomore album, The Great Divide. Kahan wrote and produced the titular track with Gabe Simon.  The resulting five-minute-plus song is epic.  

“The Great Divide” commences with an enthusiastic instrumental introduction, led by rhythmic guitar.  Noah Kahan delivers warm, expressive vocals during the first verse.  The vocal production is strong and well-rounded. The rhythm guitar initially accompanies Kahan.  With his marvelous pen going full force, he drops a colorful f-bomb at the end of the first verse that raises eyebrows: “So I tried to read the thoughts that you’d worked overtime to stop / You said, ‘Fuck off,’ and I said nothin’ for a while.”  Those lines signal “The Great Divide,” picking up steam during the pre-chorus, with fuller production and even more energy. Kahan’s performance intensifies as the musical accompaniment builds. In the pre-chorus, he asserts, “You know I think about you all the time / And my deep misunderstanding of your life…” Even better is the memorable chorus, accompanied by a super-assertive musical backdrop:

“I hope you settle down, I hope you marry rich

I hope you’re scared of only ordinary shit

Like murderers and ghosts and cancer on your skin

And not your soul and what He might do with it.”

Following a verse, pre-chorus, and chorus, there are plenty more high-flying, memorable moments within “The Great Divide,” which seems to go full throttle until the end (save for the bridge and outro). That second verse goes H.A.M.! “You inched yourself across the great divide / While we drove aimlessly along the Twin State line,” he sings poetically in the second verse, and adds, “I heard nothing but the bass in every ballad that you’d play / While you swore to God, the singer read your mind.” Woo!  Another ‘banger’ from verse two appears near the end:  “And I’m finally aware of how shitty and unfair / It was to stare ahead like everything was fine.” Damn, Noah!  There’s also the bridge, excerpted earlier, that continues the engaging nature of this lengthy but irresistible single.  “The Great Divide” is jam-packed – the expectation from the music of Noah Kahan to date.  It is another win thanks to clever songwriting (“I hope you threw a brick right into that stained glass”), awesome vocals, and a strong arrangement and production.