I am a word of letters five. Take away the first, and I remain alive. Take away the last, and I stay the same. What am I?

Alone

Remove the 'A' and you get 'lone' (still alive). Remove the 'e' and you still have 'alon' pronounced similarly, but strictly speaking, 'alone' minus 'e' is 'alon'. Wait, let's look closer at 'alone' -> remove first is 'lone', remove last ('e') is 'alon'... actually the classic riddle uses 'alone' or 'music', but let's stick to the exact logic: ALONE minus 'A' is 'LONE'. LONE is alive. ALONE minus 'E' is 'ALON' wait, 'alone' minus the last letter 'e' is 'alon'. Let's ensure the riddle fits the answer cleanly.