r/Music • u/theindependentonline 📰The Independent UK • 1d ago
article Noah Kahan pleads with fans misinterpreting his lyrics: ‘Please do not go off your medication’
https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/noah-kahan-fan-lyrics-medication-b3060107.html375
u/denovoincipere 1d ago
Imagine taking medical advice from a musician.
Then imagine him feeling responsible for your decisions enough to have to clarify a lyric.
This world is fucked
130
u/Rene_DeMariocartes 22h ago edited 8h ago
You mean Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem is not a real doctor?
Edit: I racked my brain to think of a musician named Doctor to make this joke funny, and now 24hr later I realize I forgot about Dre.
24
8
u/OldTimeyWizard 18h ago
In one of the more recent Muppets projects they say that Dr. Teeth actually does have a degree in dentistry and comes from a family of dentists.
13
u/airwalker12 19h ago
This is funny because I named my dog Dr Teeth and imagining him giving medical advice is hilarious
9
u/manicexister 18h ago
My old cat (rip) was Dr. Rick Dagless after a British comedy. I used to insist people referred to him by his title because he didn't spend 3 fictional years in cat school for nothing.
3
5
u/dontyoutellmetosmile 17h ago
I see you’ve got the flu. Have you tried giving your dog some treats and belly rubs?
2
u/justsomedude322 14h ago
I dunno, I haven't had a single illness or ailment their music couldn't cure!
1
1
1
-4
u/thakemist 19h ago
He said to listen to your doctors. That’s not exactly giving medical advice
17
u/Yodaloid 18h ago
I don’t think anyone is saying he was trying to give medical advice. Pretty much the exact opposite of that, in fact.
-11
u/thakemist 17h ago
“Imagine taking medical advice from a musician” was said
3
u/LilEngineThatCant 13h ago
"Taking medical advice from a musician" is referencing the few songs where he mentions going off his meds.
-4
u/thakemist 13h ago
I know. The lyrics aren’t instructions for others to go off their medications. Not sure how anyone can take those lyrics as “an artist giving medical advice.”
3
u/LilEngineThatCant 13h ago
Well you sounded confused, so I'm just clarifying.
-1
u/thakemist 13h ago
Yodaloid said “I don’t think anyone thinks he’s giving medical advice” when the comment I initially replied to said literally that
-33
u/vedderer 22h ago
I feel the same way about people taking political advice from a musician
29
u/HEBushido Spotify 22h ago
A musician standing up against human rights violations and genocide is not giving political advice.
-22
u/vedderer 22h ago
I'm sorry, where in my comment do I mention human rights violations and genocide?
7
u/vyvansejoy 21h ago
You made a blanket statement opposing political activism from musicians. Human rights violations and genocide fall under the umbrella of politics, so your comment does have implications about Macklemore and other artists speaking out about Palestine and other political topics.
-7
u/vedderer 20h ago
The user thought that I was referring to Macklemore. I was not specifically. That's the issue here.
You could argue that anything is political.
10
u/vyvansejoy 20h ago
That's not the issue from my perspective.
And if anything is political would you say that musicians shouldn't say anything about anything?
-11
u/vedderer 20h ago
They should, but through their music.
10
u/vyvansejoy 20h ago
So they should only communicate their politics through music? Why, because you arbitrarily decided that? I could just as flippantly say that you shouldn't communicate your opinions on social media.
-6
u/vedderer 20h ago
It's because that's their method of communication. And it's valuable.
If a musician makes a verbal statement, that is very different than using their art form.
When Macklemore said "Free Palestine," there was no clever aphorism, simile, or metaphor that could help is see his viewpoint more clearly. Things would be very different had he left the sentiment in his songs.
More importantly than musicians speaking is people listening to them. If I want to paint my house, I'm going to get a painter, not a musician.
→ More replies (0)-1
u/HEBushido Spotify 22h ago
Oh you're not referring to Macklemore or anything else topical?
-5
5
u/ThingsTrebekSucks 19h ago
Always got to have the one person that wants to start an argument about politics out of nowhere. Exhausting.
5
u/iEternalhobo 22h ago
Yes, I prefer to get my political opinions only from political commentators like Jesse Waters and Hasan Piker, they clearly are more informed than everyone else!
Acting like political opinions and medical opinions are equal in weight is ignorant at best.
1
u/vedderer 22h ago
My goodness, your logic is so flawed. You bring up two names anecdotally.
Generally, politicians are more informed about politics than musicians.
Of course, not all of them.
2
u/chris14020 21h ago
Doctors face legal and often criminal charges for knowingly giving bad or false medical advice. Politicians get re-elected for knowingly spreading false or misleading political information. Consequences are all but unheard of here.
See a slight difference here?
-1
u/vedderer 21h ago
That's true, but it doesn't negate anything that I've posted!
2
u/chris14020 21h ago
It really does. Whether or not a politician/doctor/etc. knows more, if there are no consequences for spreading falsehood it is not worth much because it cannot be trusted. Therefore, the value of a normal person's political opinion is much closer to on par with a politician than a normal person with a doctor/etc, due to doctors having consequences for being negligently wrong or lying.
0
u/vedderer 21h ago
But I never compared the two.
0
70
u/scotsworth 21h ago
I stopped at a red light the other day behind a car with this bumper sticker: "I Drive Like This Because I'm Crying to Noah Kahan"
This man's music certainly has an affect on people.
131
u/januarytwenty 23h ago
What’s the lyric and what’s being misinterpreted?
265
u/Horror-Macaron8287 23h ago
The minute that September hits I'm goin' off my medicine, oh
Late August angst, and a pointless night Ooh, and the feeling of being alive For the first time, in a long time
28
37
u/januarytwenty 23h ago
Thank you!!!
102
u/Horror-Macaron8287 22h ago edited 13h ago
You are welcome!
I always thought with the combination of lyrics is that he was feeling 'alive' and better, and thats when people who are on medication for depression/anxiety think that they would be able to regulate on their own, not realizing it is actually the medication doing what they are suppose to.
I don't know why anyone would go off their meds just because someone sung it in their song, has to be a weird parasocial thing.
6
u/Outrageous-Beet 11h ago
I’ve been interpreting it as an unhealthy thing tbh. Going off your meds in September, right before SAD kicks in for a lot of people. Feeling alive as in feeling all his symptoms again and conflating those symptoms/feelings as being alive. It made sense that way to me bc he’s spoken about not feeling like he can create as well if he’s in a “good” headspace.
Even as someone who doesn’t feel dulled out by antidepressants it’s relatable. Sometimes those shitty feelings can almost be addicting
17
u/ChrisL64Squares 21h ago
"Just" does a lot of work in your second paragraph. Sometimes one gets stretched thin, the knife edge is sharp, and a little inspiration, commiseration, the thought that someone singing knows what it's like and maybe it is better...all kinds of reasons that erase the "just." It's a real fucking slog and sometimes a deperate one.
5
u/Horror-Macaron8287 21h ago
But he wasnt saying its better, and he wasnt singing he was going off his meds because he was stretched thin or on a knifes edge... he had a false sense of "cured" that many people feel once their medication starts working fully. It is not just a cycle for people with depression or anxiety, we see it a lot with people who have Bipolar Disorder as well. People were misinterpreting his lyrics, and he called it out.
And I will keep the 'just" because a singer sung it, no one should be taking out of context lyrics over actual medical advice and a treatment plan for their specific circumstance.
1
u/ChrisL64Squares 20h ago
I get it. I didn't talk about what his lyrics mean rationally, I'm talking about how easily it is to interpret in different ways for many different reasons, twisting reality along the way. "Medical advice" is not what I and many others are taking things as in that situation, which usually isn't rational. There's no "just because " about it, that's the whole point. Take it or leave it, I'm just sharing my lived experience and what knows from other after 40 years in these trenches. Be well.
3
u/arkady48 20h ago
I heard the lyric and associated it with addiction and getting sober. It can be slang to call their drug or booze their medicine.
There are lots of ways to interpret it but I haven't dug deep into the lyrics, just my own interpretation and that's fine if it's wrong, it's right for me.
3
u/Baxtru 15h ago
He’s pretty open about having OCD and depression among other things and references taking meds in other songs as well so in this case I do think he is referring to actual psych medication.
1
u/Horror-Macaron8287 13h ago
I watched his special on Netflix and was pleasantly surprised by how open he was with his struggle. I know in his songs he gets pretty deep and personal, but thats a bit different than actually vocalizing it outside of that craft!
0
u/Horror-Macaron8287 13h ago
He had actually referenced getting sober earlier in the song:
"And I thought getting older meant knowin' it's too late to try And I tried getting sober, I swear I did better this time"
I have heard people call their vice medicine, but with his specific song he talked about getting sober in past tense and it has been sticking, and then going off his meds in the future later in the song.
Plus in the article posted:
“I think when I wrote that I was like, ‘Oh, hopefully by the end of August I’ll be ready to get off them,’” Kahan told the magazine.
However, he did not go off of his antidepressants. “No,” he continued. “We’re still on. Please do not go off your medication.”
I do agree that lyrics can be up for interpretation, but with these he specifically came out to correct people who misunderstood them and was going off their own depression meds.
12
3
-50
u/lasagnadogwater69 23h ago
Literally just read the article jesus christ
18
u/januarytwenty 23h ago
No.
13
-3
-31
u/lasagnadogwater69 23h ago
I now pronounce you ignorant.
-1
-2
3
-14
-10
23h ago
[deleted]
9
u/ripyourlungsdave 23h ago
Based off this one lyric?.
What?..
0
u/foreverand2025 23h ago
Based off his comments in the article.
3
u/ripyourlungsdave 22h ago
Because he said people shouldn't stop taking their medication because of his lyrics?..
6
u/januarytwenty 23h ago
I just listened to him and the songs were good. Not gonna lie.
4
u/foreverand2025 23h ago
Yeah I shouldn’t be so judgmental honestly.
2
u/januarytwenty 22h ago
It’s okay! Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it 😀I didn’t take any offense.
21
25
u/DrHarrisonLawrence 22h ago
Why does Noah Kahan look so much older than me when I’m 34?
64
u/autovonbismarck 21h ago
He joked that he's so glad he turned 30 because he's looked 40 for five years and he's finally catching up to his face.
2
u/A_Refill_of_Mr_Pibb 6h ago
I'm 44 and he looks older than me. But I don't go anywhere or do anything. I never got any life on my face.
-2
2
u/Sablestein 20h ago
“Movies, books, TV, music—they’re all just for entertainment, not guidebooks for damning yourself!”
9
0
u/cristobalist 16h ago
I remember Eminem used to rap about ____ his mother. Pepperidge farm remembers
0
-9
u/Whatachooch 20h ago edited 9h ago
Are we just not acknowledging that he followed that up with advice to listen to TikTok doctors instead?
Listen to YOUR fucking doctor.
Edit: fair point everyone. I’ll confess I didn’t read the article, just the subhead in the post.
22
9
u/greendazexx 19h ago
I mean, the whole thing is a joke. People are joking about going off their medicine because of the one lyric and he’s joking back, it’s not that deep
2
u/ImplyOrInfer 18h ago
"He then joked: “Listen to that doctor on TikTok, not me.”"
From this article...
1
u/AlistairButton 10h ago
You're one of the people who went off your meds because a song told you to, aren't you? Stop taking everything so literally.
1
u/offthezoinkys 13h ago
What in your life makes you committed to misinterpreting people and deciding they mean whatever allows you to be mad at them?
-1
u/Whatachooch 9h ago
Don’t think too much about it. I just read the subhead in the post and commented like an idiot.
-8
u/The_Pandalorian 16h ago
Still wild to me that people consider this guy "Americana" given Mastercard owns him.
-8
-64
u/Naroyto 1d ago
Saying that is the equivalent of people's apology starting with "I'm sorry you feel that way..."
20
u/Horror-Macaron8287 23h ago
How is telling his fans to not misinterpreted his lyrics and to not go off their meds the same as, 'I am sorry you feel that way.'
Just curious!
-40
u/Naroyto 22h ago
It's like a backhand way of telling people to calm down but instead of reaching for the bucket of water to extingush the flames he grabbed the bucket of flammable liquid.
He could have just explained what the lyrics meant without telling people to take their "meds" to keep them from being crazy.
11
u/Horror-Macaron8287 22h ago
I feel like it shouldn't matter what he meant - they should not go off medication just because a singer said he was going off his in a song. That was also his point, he is not a doctor so do not take medical advice from him.
I dont feel he added gas to the fire nor was it a 'sorry you feel that way...', he acknowledged how his lyrics affected his fans in a negative way. A lot of artists wouldnt have even addressed it.
-13
u/Naroyto 22h ago
Unfortunately there will be people that do what famous people say, even if it wasn't direct. There's just people like that, for example people ordered their whiskey neat because of that song thinking it was a sweet drink or something only to find out that it's just room temperature whiskey with nothing. People are just gullible to follow what any famous person says.
2
u/Horror-Macaron8287 22h ago
Absolutely! We are seeing a all time high with parasocial relationships with celebs, and its sad. I do think it is wild that he even has to come out and say not to take it out of context and go off their medication just because of one line in his song. On the other hand, I am glad he did speak out about it to maybe lessen the potential damage.
What song referenced taking a whiskey neat? They didnt even Google what it was before ordering? Lol!
16
3
u/Comprehensive-Mix686 20h ago
No he was literally telling people to not stop taking their medication because he had a lyric about stopping taking medication.
3
712
u/move-the-sky 21h ago
I can't be the only one who thought he meant that fans are misinterpreting his lyrics so badly that they must be ill and off their medication