Even If: What Noah Kahan Teaches Us About the Soul

Music has a certain power over emotion. 

I don’t think that’s too controversial to say. I’m sure you’ve felt it at various times. If I’m feeling happy and “Fix You” by Coldplay comes on, bye, bye, good mood! If I’m at the gym and put on “Collard Greens” by Schoolboy Q, that workout is going to feel infinitely better.

This is the power that music has on me.

If I’m being entirely honest, things have felt a little heavier lately. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe that’s just the mental season I’m in.

I should’ve known music would be part of the antidote.

Just the other week, I was standing on the Metro platform waiting for the train to come to take me to work. I found myself staring at the rectangular honeycomb pattern of the Metro tunnel, listening to Noah Kahan’s new album, The Great Divide.

“Haircut,” the ninth song off the album began playing. Nothing really stood out to me at first until I hit the chorus.

“But at least I got a soul still
Even if I’m in a bad place
Even if I’m eating fast food
Sleeping at my dad’s place”

I couldn’t help but smile. A certain lightness entered my body. I probably looked like a fool to anyone else on the platform, assuming anyone noticed.

Those words were the exact reminder I needed to hear: that despite how you may feel or your circumstances, you still have that soul inside you. Even if the fire is burning low, the flame is still lit.

The “Haircut” chorus looks at all these ways we might judge ourselves. Perhaps, we’re not in a good place mentally, or we’re eating more poorly than we should, or we’re living at home with parents. These are many areas in which we judge ourselves too harshly.

No matter, Noah says. Even with all these apparent shortcomings before us, we still have a soul. We’re still alive. 

There really is no way to fail at living this life. You might not live up to the expectations you set for yourself, but those expectations are all imposed. They’re made up by something external. A bird can’t fly incorrectly. A fish can’t swim wrongly in a river.

Of course, we can live in a way that’s contrary to our soul. I suspect that’s another part of the reason behind the heaviness I’ve felt. I know there are certain things I should be doing, but I put them off. C’est la vie.

There’s another French phrase that feels even more appropriate: “l'existence précède l'essence.” 

The phrase, originated by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, translates as “existence precedes essence.” You are alive first, then comes the meaning.

Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, approaches this point in another way:

Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.

There’s no prequalification for one’s existence. We are here. We are alive. We can guide our lives in the direction we want, but nothing is forcing us to. It’s entirely up to us to decide. 

Was Noah Kahan leaning into existentialism when he wrote the chorus to “Haircut”? Maybe. Maybe not. Yet the chorus arrives at a similar conclusion as Sartre, Campbell, and many more who came before him.

Regardless of where you are in life, successful or unsuccessful, rich or poor, happy or sad, you have a soul. There’s no prerequisite for this. You are alive.

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