Northern Attitude (with Hozier)

"Northern Attitude" is a profound exploration of how one's environment, particularly the harsh, isolating winters of New England, can shape personality and emotional availability. The song's central theme is a self-aware apology for a guarded and pessimistic outlook, which Noah Kahan terms the "northern attitude." He delves into the profound loneliness and isolation he felt growing up in rural Vermont, a place with long, gloomy winters. This experience fostered a more closed-off heart, leading to fear and hesitation in relationships. The lyrics, “Forgive my northern attitude / Oh, I was raised out in the cold,” act as both an explanation and a plea for patience from a loved one. It's about the struggle to connect and be vulnerable when your formative years have taught you to be reserved and expect the worst. The song also touches on themes of existential dread, self-doubt, and the fear of being misunderstood. Ultimately, while it dwells in melancholy, it also offers a glimmer of hope, suggesting that this mindset can be understood and, with time, possibly overcome.

The song begins with a self-soothing exercise, the simple act of breathing in and out, immediately establishing a tone of anxiety and introspection. The narrator then starts a line of questioning, as if to an old friend or perhaps to himself, asking about life's milestones: settling down, feeling proud, the well-being of one's children. These questions reveal a deeper search for meaning and a sense of being adrift, questioning one's own place in the world. This leads to a vulnerable confession and a plea for understanding. The narrator, joined by a second voice, apologizes in advance for his emotional guardedness, his "northern attitude." He attributes this to his upbringing in a place with little light and a lot of cold, a metaphor for a childhood lacking warmth and emotional openness. This environment has shaped him, making him cautious and perhaps difficult to get close to. He worries that if someone gets too close, he won't be what they hoped for. The apology is a recurring plea, a central theme of a person who is self-aware of his emotional barriers but feels powerless to dismantle them, asking for forgiveness for a nature forged by the bleakness of his origins.

The second verse delves deeper into the specific anxieties and coping mechanisms born from this solitude. It paints a picture of a person wrestling with existential dread, being "scared to live, scared to die." There's a sense of aimlessness and self-destruction, captured in the imagery of buying things online late at night, getting high, and then aimlessly kicking rocks. These actions are distractions from a deeper-seated fear and a feeling of being lost. He mentions carving a lover's name into a birch tree, a classic romantic gesture, but it's immediately undercut by the fear that this act of permanence might be a mistake, a terror that he might be trapping someone in his own inherited emotional winter. The fear isn't just about his own pain, but about inflicting his inherited coldness onto someone else. The song builds in intensity, with both voices uniting in a powerful, shared chorus, amplifying the feeling that this isn't just one person's story, but a shared experience for those from similar backgrounds. The raw, shouting vocals in the bridge express a desperate release of pent-up emotion, a lifetime of feeling misunderstood and isolated, culminating in the repeated, almost prayer-like request for forgiveness for an attitude they feel they did not choose but were molded by.

The original version of "Northern Attitude" was written by Noah Kahan and his collaborator Gabe Simon, and released on September 16, 2022, as the second single from his album Stick Season. Kahan revealed the song was created spontaneously during a recording session when he started playing a guitar riff that captured a feeling of isolation and self-discovery he'd long struggled to express. The lyrics were freestyled, drawing on his experiences growing up in the rural town of Strafford, Vermont.

The duet with Irish singer-songwriter Hozier was released on November 10, 2023. This collaboration was part of a series where Kahan re-released songs from Stick Season with artists he admired. Kahan has cited Hozier as one of his biggest musical inspirations, making the collaboration deeply meaningful for him. The partnership felt natural to fans and critics, who often referred to Kahan as the "Vermont Hozier." The two artists first performed the song together live at Kahan's concert in Nashville in October 2023, which spurred excitement for an official studio version. Upon its release, Kahan jokingly told fans it was the only version they should listen to anymore. The duet features the original lyrics, with Hozier taking the second verse and adding his distinct, soulful harmonies throughout the track.

The song's structure builds dynamically, mirroring its emotional arc. It begins at a relatively moderate tempo, driven by a picked acoustic mandolin and guitar. The verses have a conversational, free-flowing rhythm. The tempo and intensity increase dramatically in the pre-chorus and explode into the full-band chorus, which has a driving 4/4 time signature and a tempo of approximately 122 BPM. This rhythmic shift emphasizes the emotional outpouring of the chorus. The rhyme scheme is not strictly rigid but generally follows a pattern of rhyming couplets within the verses (e.g., life/die, online/time) and a consistent AABB structure in the chorus (hoped/cold, summertime/light). This gives the chorus a memorable, anthem-like quality. The interplay between the gentle, sparse rhythm of the verses and the propulsive, energetic rhythm of the chorus creates a powerful contrast that reflects the song's internal tension between quiet anxiety and loud desperation.

The song employs a range of musical and literary techniques to create its powerful emotional landscape. Musically, it follows a folk tradition, starting with a deceptively gentle mandolin and Kahan's soft vocals, which then build into a "raucous and booming chorus." This dynamic shift from quiet introspection to a powerful, anthemic release is a key feature. The instrumentation is layered, featuring acoustic guitars, a 12-string acoustic, bass, drums, organ, percussion, and a cinematic piano that adds to the dramatic mood. Kahan's vocal delivery is raw and emotional, sometimes bordering on a shout (Sprechstimme), which conveys a sense of desperation and passion. Hozier's addition brings a soulful, haunting quality, and their harmonizing in the chorus adds a new layer of depth and power. Lyrically, Kahan uses direct address and rhetorical questions ("You feelin' right? You feelin' proud?") to create an intimate, conversational feel. The narrative voice is deeply introspective and self-deprecating, a consistent feature throughout the album.

The collaboration between Noah Kahan and Hozier was a significant cultural moment in the indie-folk scene, uniting an artist often called the "Vermont Hozier" with the Irish artist himself. The song was the fourth in a series of successful duets Kahan released from his 2022 album Stick Season, a project that massively boosted his global popularity. The duet version of "Northern Attitude" was released on the same day Kahan received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, adding to its significance. The song performed well on charts, peaking at number 16 on the Official Singles Chart in the UK and number 5 on the Irish Singles Chart. The track resonated deeply with listeners, especially those from New England or similar rural, cold regions, who felt seen in its depiction of a specific cultural-environmental identity. It became an anthem for those who identify with the feeling of being shaped by a life with "little light." The song's popularity on platforms like TikTok further cemented its place as a key track in the folk-revival movement of the early 2020s.

The song is rich with symbolism, primarily centered around the climate and landscape of New England to represent emotional states.

• The Cold and Winter: This is the central metaphor of the song, symbolizing a closed-off heart, emotional guardedness, and a pessimistic worldview. The lyric "I was raised out in the cold" directly links this emotional state to the singer's upbringing.
• "Little Light": A companion to the cold metaphor, being "raised on little light" symbolizes a lack of warmth, hope, and emotional nurturing during one's formative years. It speaks to the long, dark winters but also to a deeper emotional scarcity.
• Northern Attitude: This phrase itself is a symbol for an identity built around emotional resilience that borders on coldness, a coping mechanism for an isolating environment. It encapsulates a tendency towards introspection, anxiety, and difficulty with vulnerability.
• Summer: The mention that the "sun don't rise 'til the summertime" is a metaphor for the slow process of opening up to love and warmth. It represents a future hope that the emotional winter isn't permanent.

The most significant recurring motif is the titular phrase, "Forgive my northern attitude." This line acts as the song's central thesis and is repeated in each chorus. Its repetition functions as a constant plea for understanding, reinforcing the idea that the singer's emotional guardedness is a product of his environment, not a personal failing. Each time it's sung, it deepens the sense of self-awareness and vulnerability. Another key recurring phrase is "I was raised out in the cold / I was raised on little light." This couplet is the justification for the "northern attitude" and is crucial to the song's meaning, linking the emotional state directly to the physical environment. Its repetition solidifies this connection as the core of the singer's identity and struggles. The song's opening lines, "Breathin' in, breathin' out," serve as a meditative motif that bookends the internal turmoil, suggesting a constant effort to find calm amidst anxiety.