Season of the Sticks Meaning: Vermont Term & Noah Kahan

There’s a stretch of late fall in Vermont where the trees look like bare twigs against a gray sky, and locals have a name for it: stick season. That same phrase became the title of Noah Kahan’s breakout song, turning a regional weather term into a metaphor for heartbreak and depression.

Definition: Period between autumn and winter in Vermont when trees are bare ·
Origin: Popularized by Vermont locals; predates Noah Kahan’s song ·
Song Release: Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season’ released July 2022 ·
Mental Health Connection: Lyrics interpret falling out of love due to depression ·
Cultural Impact: Sparked conversations about seasonal depression and rural life

Six facts that define the term and its journey from regional dialect to chart-topping song:

What does season of the sticks mean in Vermont?

Definition and local use

In Vermont, “stick season” describes the period between autumn’s peak foliage and winter’s first lasting snow. As Noah Kahan explained to Sounds of Saving (mental health advocacy nonprofit), it’s “the time between peak foliage and Halloween and the first snow — when all the leaves are off the trees.” He called it “a time of transition” and “super depressing.”

Students reviewing the album for The Tower (student newspaper) reported that Kahan said the term was used by older people in his hometown. It describes a miserable gray period when it’s cold, there’s no snow yet, and the foliage is gone. For Vermonters, it’s a shared reference point.

The implication: the term carries both a literal and emotional weight that Kahan expertly leveraged.

How the term describes late fall scenery

The imagery is straightforward: trees stripped of leaves look like sticks. The The Georgetonian (college publication) observes that the image is tied to a period with “no foliage and before winter snow covers the ground.” That window creates a stark, almost post-apocalyptic feel that Kahan used to anchor his album’s emotional tone.

The implication: what Vermonters saw as a drab seasonal phase, Kahan saw as a perfect visual for emotional emptiness. The term itself didn’t change — but its audience grew millions larger.

Is season of the sticks about mental health?

Noah Kahan’s song as a metaphor

Yes. Sounds of Saving (mental health advocacy nonprofit) frames the song as part of a larger album narrative about “nostalgia for home and wanting to leave home,” with mental health as an underlying theme that links multiple motifs together. The song’s title is a literal Vermont term used to frame an emotional narrative about depression, seasonal depression specifically, and falling out of love.

Lyrics about a breakup and depression

Listeners picked up on the emotional weight immediately. The Tower (student newspaper) connects “Stick Season” to feelings of being trapped and left behind in a dreary and depressing environment. Kahan’s lyrics use the barren landscape as an extended metaphor for a relationship that can’t survive mental health struggles. The The Georgetonian (college publication) describes the title track as capturing “themes of emptiness, transition, and suspended time.”

The pattern: Kahan takes a real regional term and uses it as the frame for an emotional story that resonates far beyond Vermont.

Why is it called the season of the sticks?

Etymology and regional origins

The name comes from the bare, stick-like appearance of trees during late fall and early winter. The Georgetonian (college publication) states the phrase is “specifically associated with Vermont in the public discussion around the song,” with New England used as a broader regional frame. The term has been used by Vermont locals for generations, long before Kahan adopted it for his album and title track.

Comparison to other Vermont seasonal terms

Vermont has a vocabulary for its seasonal transitions. Mud season follows spring’s thaw. Stick season sits between foliage and snow. These aren’t official meteorological categories — they’re practical terms born from rural life and the distinctive rhythms of northern New England seasons. Kahan learned the term from his hometown and used it as his album title, bringing regional dialect into mainstream pop culture.

What this means: the term’s journey from local slang to album title represents one of the more organic cultural transfers in recent music — a word that existed only in spoken Vermont became the anchor for a globally streamed album.

What does Noah Kahan struggle with?

Mental health challenges

Noah Kahan has been open about his mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety. His music, particularly the “Stick Season” album, explicitly addresses these themes. Sounds of Saving (mental health advocacy nonprofit) notes that the song “Growing Sideways” interprets unhealthy coping mechanisms and difficulty feeling better, while “No Complaints” presents numbness from prescription medication as part of Kahan’s mental health struggle.

Public advocacy and therapy

Kahan discusses therapy and stigma reduction in interviews, using his platform to normalize mental health conversations. The song “Stick Season” reflects those personal experiences, which fans and mental health advocates have praised. Sounds of Saving (mental health advocacy nonprofit) reports the title track became the most popular song on the album after going viral on TikTok, suggesting the emotional resonance struck a chord with young audiences navigating their own mental health questions.

The trade-off: Kahan’s openness has made him a mental health spokesperson by default, a role he didn’t seek but has embraced. For fans, his willingness to name his struggles creates a powerful point of connection.

What is the origin of the term ‘stick season’?

Historical usage in Vermont

The term predates Noah Kahan’s song and is rooted in rural Vermont dialect. The Tower (student newspaper) reports that Kahan learned the term from older people in his hometown, confirming its existence as local vocabulary. It describes the transition period between fall foliage and winter snow, a window specific to northern New England’s climate patterns.

Migration to popular culture

Once Kahan chose “Stick Season” as his album title for his third studio album, the term spread beyond Vermont. The Georgetonian (college publication) notes that the phrase is now “specifically associated with Vermont in the public discussion around the song.” Listeners across the country and globally now use “stick season” to describe both a weather period and an emotional state.

The pattern: a regional slang became a global metaphor, bridging the gap between rural authenticity and mainstream pop culture.

Confirmed facts

• Stick season is a term used in Vermont for late fall when trees are bare (Sounds of Saving).
• Noah Kahan released a song titled “Stick Season” in July 2022 (Sounds of Saving).
• Kahan has publicly discussed his mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety (Sounds of Saving).

What’s unclear

• The exact historical origin of the term “stick season” before 2020.
• Whether Noah Kahan intended the mental health interpretation from the start or it evolved through listener feedback.
• The precise geographic spread of the term beyond Vermont.
• Whether the song lyrics definitively reference a breakup and depression as opposed to general anxiety.
• The exact timeline of the term’s usage before Kahan.
• Whether mental health is an overt theme or an underlying subtext.

Key quotes on the meaning

“Stick season” refers to “the time between peak foliage and Halloween and the first snow — when all the leaves are off the trees,” describing it as “a time of transition” and “super depressing.”

— Noah Kahan, as quoted by Sounds of Saving (mental health advocacy nonprofit)

The phrase “stick season” is “specifically associated with Vermont in the public discussion around the song.”

— The Georgetonian (college publication)

Kahan explained that “stick season” was “a term used by older people in his hometown” for the miserable gray period when it is cold, there is no snow yet, and the foliage is gone.

— The Tower (student newspaper)

The song is “part of a larger album narrative about nostalgia for home and wanting to leave home,” with mental health as “an underlying theme that runs through the album.”

— Sounds of Saving (mental health advocacy nonprofit)

What began as a local weather term for the stretch between fall color and winter snow has become a globally recognized metaphor for emotional struggle. Noah Kahan took “stick season” from Vermont’s vocabulary and turned it into an album title and a cultural touchstone. For listeners who found their own feelings echoed in the song’s lyrics, the term now describes not just a landscape but a state of mind. For Vermonters, it remains what it always was: the quiet, gray season before the snow falls. The two meanings coexist, one literal, one emotional — and both are real.

For a deeper look at the song’s verses and emotional undercurrent, the full lyrics and analysis of Stick Season provides a detailed breakdown of Noah Kahan’s lyrics.

Frequently asked questions

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