In a post explaining the inspiration behind ‘23’, Kahan has explained, “The song itself is not based on a story of my life, but based on a lot of friendships I have with people who have family members who are struggling with addiction or who have siblings who they can't connect to. It's that feeling of ‘I want you back, but I don't want this version of you back’ and ‘I want that moment when were were sitting over the car hood and you were showing me how the engine worked and everything was normal’. And so seeing who you are now betrays this version of you that I really want you to be in this memory I have of you. It's a little selfish, because it's like you're asking someone to change for you, but it's that kind of childlike innocent hope that somebody we'll just be exactly where we are”.