Behind the Lyrics: “End Of August” by Noah Kahan and How He Navigates the End of Summer

Noah Kahan opens his latest LP The Great Divide with “End Of August”. Co-written by Kahan and The National’s Aaron Dessner, the song begins with the buzzing of summer bugs, where he invites the listener to his home state of Vermont and explains how things change even when they seem the same.

The End of Summer

Kahan narrates the end of summer with anecdotes about doing nothing in a small town. Though the memories appear banal, they grow into a life.

His friends talk about doing something, but never get around to doing much of anything. And the neighbors who vote in elections keep electing the same politicians, which feels like a metaphor for the same ennui that drives the kids to endless boredom.

Richie and Austen are often along for the ride,
They don’t say a lot, but they know every inch of this drive.
If these trees started talking, I bet you they’d only talk sh*t,
’Cause we never do anything real, we just talk about it.
Ending of August, the bugs are just starting to die,
All the neighbors are voting for someone who wins every time.
And I thought getting older meant knowing it’s too late to try,
And I tried getting sober, I swear I did better this time.

The irony of the tedium is that everything eventually changes. Many view summer as a season of hope. Then fall arrives, and all the unfulfilled plans are abandoned like a tree dropping its dead leaves.

Oh, everything you see out here will die,
Oh, it’s a matter of time.
Till it’s fields of ice and reflector lights,
Till it’s our town.

Late August Angst

While all this may sound dreary, there is a glimmer of hope in Kahan’s song. Musically, it feels like Americana Coldplay. It’s a folk song that hints at being some kind of evolution hymn. But where Chris Martin often lives in an endless state of childlike wonder, Kahan remains sober. He’s taking despair head-on.

Late August angst and a pointless night,
Oh, and the feeling of being alive,
For the first time in a long time.

So the great divide here may be generational. But it’s also the threshold between the past and what lies ahead. Kahan describes the growing pains of growing up, learning to let go, and knowing when it’s time to finally leave, even if leaving is only temporary.

Photo by Sacha Lecca/Rolling Stone via Getty Images