Storytelling as an Artform in Noah Kahan's "We'll All Be Here Forever"

Northern Attitude

The first track, Northern Attitude, deals with the all-too-common fear of not being enough for someone, as well as watching them spiral. The first verse -
Breathin' in, breathin' out
How've you been? Settled down?
You feelin' right? Feelin' proud?
How are your kids? Where are they now?
- goes to show how small Kahan's hometown of Strafford, Vermont really is. Strafford has a population of exactly 1,094, according to census data from 2020. Kahan stated in an interview with Billboard a few days prior to stick season's release. The use of basic conversation shows that, while everyone knows everyone, it does not go beyond knowing someone's name. People are ever-changing, and inevitably, you will know one person better than you know another. That works well with the title of the record since stick season for residents of Vermont is a time of change and transition. This is further proven by a lyric in All My Love, saying that he 'knows your name, but not who you are.' As well as this, the opening line lines up with the first line of the final track, 'air in my lungs', which is the album's way of coming full circle. A lot of the tracks on the record revolve around Kahan's desire to leave his town, and the final lyric proves that.

The pre-chorus -
You build a boat, you build a life
You lose your friends, you lose your wife
You settle into routine
Where are you? What does it mean?
- describes how routine oriented Strafford is. In the same Billboard interview, Kahan talked about how set into routine new Englanders, specifically those born and raised in Vermont, actually are. He talked about how certain routines of his and routines of those around him have cost relationships, be it platonic or romantic. But, like everything, routines make little to no sense, and even when you realise that they are difficult to break. Routines can bring a lot of comfort in chaos. And when certain routines are pointed out as being toxic or destructive, for many people, it is easier to cut off those who disagree with the routine than it is to get out of the habit.

The chorus -
If I get too close
And I'm not how you hoped
Forgive my northern attitude, oh
I was raised out in the cold
If the sun don't rise
'Til the summertime
Forgive my northern attitude, oh
I was raised on little light
- discusses the fear of not reaching someone's standards. Considering the rest of the album, it is most likely a romantic partner that Kahan fears is too good for him. The idea of a 'northern attitude' goes hand in hand with a lyric on the twelfth track, Homesick, 'I'm mean because I grew up in New England'. As well as that parallel, it could be a reference to Seasonal Affective Disorder, commonly abbreviated to SAD, which is when a person becomes noticeably more depressed during a certain season than they do during another. The line about the sun is most likely a reference to days being shorter during the autumn and the winter than in spring and summer. Studies have proven that the shorter the days, the sadder the people. This is also proven in a lyric in the chorus of the first deluxe track, Your Needs, My Needs. As well as this, he could be blaming his flaws on something they can't help, either to justify them to their partner and possibly themselves or to justify not working on a flaw. People from New England are also passed off as rude, so their being raised out in the cold could refer to their parents being "distant" and "frigid".

The second verse -
Bought some shit, search online
You're getting lost, you're getting high
All alone, late in life
Scared to live, scared to die
- lists different ways that people distract themselves from their problems. This lines up with a lyric in Growing Sideways, which addresses a possible manic episode caused by either depression or bipolar disorder, in which Kahan describes spending his savings on overpriced clothing. Eventually, his problems catch up to him, and he ends up stuck in the same cycle of superficial purchases to temporarily fill the void, because that is easier than coming to terms with his mental health and working on it. Eventually, his mental health gets worse, and he gets to the point where he can not see himself being happy anymore, which leads to suicidal ideation. But he does not go through with it because his fear of death outweighs his fear of life.

The pre-chorus is the same as the last one, except for the last line, which has been replaced by "You settle down, you're feelin' lost/you're getting stoned, then kicking rocks". What this means is that the subject of the song lost their way in the world, and as a way of coping, they are getting high alone, most likely because they have been rejected by a group of people. They can not bring themself to do anything other than get high alone due to their declining mental health.

So Northern Attitude is about the fear of not being enough for someone in the time that they need you most.