Although we're incredibly excited for Noah Kahan's new album, The Great Divide, we - and many other fans alike - have been mildly crashing out over the fact that, when he revealed the tracklist, the long-teased ‘Staying Still’ was nowhere to be seen.

However, rumours and TikTok theories have started surfacing online speculating that the reason ‘Staying Still’ is not on The Great Divide is because the angsty, anthemic track is set to appear on the new Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack.

It's been four years since the career-altering release of Stick Season, and in that time, Kahan has teased a lot of music. And given how meticulous the Vermont native is in weaving various narratives, themes, sub-plots and callbacks into his albums, unsurprisingly, a good chunk of the songs he teased haven't made the cut.

When Kahan dropped the official tracklist for The Great Divide on April 2nd, fan-favourites like ‘Shape of My Shadow’, ‘Pain is Cold Water’ and - crucially - ‘Staying Still’ were absent. He's been performing ‘Shape of My Shadow’ since 2023, so maybe the vibe just didn't resonate with Kahan three years later, and he took to X explaining that he couldn't complete ‘Pain is Cold Water’ in a way that satisfied him. We love ‘Pain is Cold Water’ just as it is, and we'll always have his Live from Fenway Park version to keep us happy if Kahan never drop a studio rendition.

Artists tease songs all the time that never see the light of day. But ‘Staying Still’ is a whole other case, because Kahan shared a clip of this soul-searching track via his secret TikTok account, @thelastofthebugs, on the same day he dropped the album's tracklist.

What's more, on Kahan's official TikTok post announcing the full tracklist for The Great Divide via his colourful collection of song-title patches, he used that same ‘Staying Still’ clip as the audio. Fans in the comments initially took this as Kahan playfully goading them after not including the song on the tracklist, but although he says he's “mean because he grew up in New England”, we don't think he's that mean.

We think the timing of these ‘Staying Still’ teasers have to be intentional, and we suspect the ‘Northern Attitude’ hitmaker is hinting that he has bigger plans for this particular song.

Now, there have been rumours bubbling away on the internet for the best part of a year that Kahan is set to have a song featured on the new Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack. This speculation has stemmed from a mix of fan-fuelled theories and “insider sources”, claiming Kahan has been in talks with Lionsgate Studios.

Sunrise on the Reaping, which serves as a prequel to the much-loved Hunger Games franchise and focuses on the origin story of Haymitch Abernathy, is due to premiere in November.

There's no question that ‘Staying Still’ would sound perfect on a Hunger Games soundtrack, particularly given how the series has historically incorporated folk-leaning textures. This was epitomised with The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes soundtrack, which featured Sierra Ferrell, Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings and more.

The cornerstone of that project, of course, was Olivia Rodrigo's ‘Can't Catch Me Now’, which has since blossomed into a beloved gem in the the pop phenom's expansive catalogue of hits. It's no secret that Kahan is a huge fan of Rodrigo, with the duo covering one another during their respective BBC Radio 1 Live Lounges in 2023.

They're even appearing on Saturday Night Live on back-to-back weeks next month, with Rodrigo hosting and performing on May 2nd, before Kahan takes the stage on May 9th.

So it would certainly appeal to Kahan to follow in Rodrigo's footsteps by being a part of the next Hunger Games soundtrack. Given Kahan's status as one of the most popular artists in folk, we'd imagine his contribution would be picked as the lead single.

It would also serve as a well-earned redemption arc for the ‘Dial Drunk’ singer-songwriter. Back in 2022, Kahan shared the now-infamous story of how he was asked to write a song for an unnamed movie sequel - which has since been alleged by fans to be To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. After spending weeks without much inspiration, Kahan and his co-writers finally came up with the haunting ‘Remember Everything’. Despite initially saying they loved the song, Kahan revealed that the producers then effectively ghosted him, with ‘Remember Everything’ currently existing solely as a TikTok snippet that die-hard fans know and love.

Following this less-than-ideal experience with Hollywood, it would be a heartwarming full-circle moment for Kahan to have the lead single on one of the biggest films of the year.

Some fans have speculated that ‘Pain is Cold Water’ might be Kahan's Hunger Games song, instead of ‘Staying Still’. But as we outlined earlier, the folk titan made it clear via X that he simply couldn't finish that song, declaring, “Pain is cold water is just one of those songs that wants to be left alone”, adding, “Just doesn’t fit yall, it wasn’t right and I won’t release music that doesn’t feel 100% right for the album”.

In a later X exchange, Kahan joked about all the conjecture surrounding ‘Staying Still’. After a fan furiously asked, “can you just answer everyone’s question, where is staying still?”, the ‘Orange Juice’ crooner hilariously responded, “Staying still”.

Another potential explanation for Kahan's decision to keep teasing ‘Staying Still' despite it not appearing on The Great Divide's tracklist could be that he's holding it back for a deluxe. We all know that Kahan loves to release expanded versions of his albums, with the ‘Homesick’ trailblazer dropping two separate editions of Stick Season in subsequent years, alongside a stellar Live from Fenway Park project.

A deluxe remains a possibility, but the way in which Kahan has been talking about The Great Divide in the lead-up to the record makes us think this is a carefully curated collection of songs, with there being a central narrative running throughout.

As a result, we don't envision Kahan tagging on tracks as part of a deluxe, unless they genuinely add something substantial to the overarching story and themes of the record.

Our money is on ‘Staying Still’ being on the new Hunger Games soundtrack, and with The Great Divide arriving - at long last - this Friday, April 24th, we reckon Kahan might be gearing up to unveil his Sunrise on the Reaping news in the weeks after this.

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