Noah Kahan recently hopped over to perform at BBC’s Radio 1 Live Lounge, where he treated listeners to a cover of a song by someone who recently covered him. Kahan put a new spin on Olivia Rodrigo’s “Lacy,” a track from her sophomore album, Guts. (A few weeks ago, Rodrigo herself was at the Live Lounge, where she showed off her folksier side too by performing Kahan’s “Stick Season.”)
Kahan said he chose the song because it was “so beautiful and it highlights what I love so much about Olivia’s lyricism, it’s very dynamic and it just makes you feel an emotion we’ve all experienced before.”
The performance opens with Kahan’s backup band, including the choice to add a banjo to the instrumental. Kahan then leans into the quieter aspects of the song, which elevates the emotions in the lyrics. By the time he gets to the “Ooh I care, I care, I care” chorus, several vocalists back him too — adding a bunch of powerful choices to the cover.
By the time Kahan hits the second verse, he does start to lift the mood and shifts the instrumental — making it feel more like an upbeat folk song.
When Rodrigo covered “Stick Season,” Kahan also expressed praise for the pop star — mainly her choosing his song to cover, out of all the ones she could have picked. (And who can blame her? It rules.)
Is this real https://t.co/ty5LD9bUgO
— Noah Kahan (@NoahKahan) October 2, 2023
Check out Noah Kahan‘s take of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Lacy” above.