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He may only be a few years into his career, but Zach Bryan has already amassed an impressive catalogue of songs in his arsenal.
What’s most impressive about his songwriting is that he rarely misses the mark. In fact, he’s writing the best songs not being manufactured on Music Row today.
With the release of his fifth album, The Great American Bar Scene, Bryan has again added some weighty, emotional layers to his already beloved catalogue.
While whittling them down was a tall order, here are Zach Bryan’s 40 Best Songs, according to Holler:
Boys of Faith
Hopefully
Looking to the horizon, Bryan sees a glimmer of hope crest the mountaintops.
Even though he doesn’t even know if he’ll “be alive tomorrow,” he holds onto the idea that things will be better another day. He has his regrets, but it’s the hope that gets him through the storm.
Blue
Bryan would rather have loved and lost than not have loved at all. ‘Blue’ is a faded polaroid; a snapshot of what could be. “In my dreams / it seems I'm only chasin' you,” he whispers. His poetry and his sonnets are what get him by these days, as he waits for his day to come.
Right Now The Best
Here, Bryan embraces the present. Even as the world is constantly racing for what’s next, he remains steady and true. Nevertheless, he finds himself losing time, as he experiences life in the moment. It’s an inevitable emotional crash, when you realize the present is now the past with the relentless tick of the clock.
Morning Time
Bryan shows gratitude for love. As he wades through its murky depths, he finds a greater understanding of what it means to be alive, deciding to seize each day while he has it. “You in the morning time / makes me glad I'm still alive,” the words ring ever powerful and true.
Flying or Crying
Bryan flips through a reckless youth with ‘Flying or Crying’. Late-night binges are punctuated with conversations about other times he’s drunk too much.
“We've spent living towards dying,” he sings. He’s teetered on the edge one too many times, but at least if he falls he won’t be “going down alone”.
Starved
Sometimes, the moments you cherish most are those in the quiet. Life is a bustle of sound and static, and so, those fleeting chances you get to just be mean even more.
With ‘Starved,’ a one-off single, Bryan relates his personal journey to a universal story about desperation and a hunger for something more meaningful out of life.
Leaving
Bryan will certainly understand if you walk away. With his song ‘Leaving,’ the singer-songwriter expresses how the “toxins” throbbing in his brain have hindered him from being “a better man”.
Acoustic guitar in tow, the mid-tempo ballad rings the emotions dry like doing laundry on a chilly Saturday morning.
Twenty So
“I fear all my days of bein' young are done,” laments Bryan. Time is cruel, and life seems as fleeting as it’s ever been.
For his part, Bryan feels it all crushing upon his shoulders without an escape. It’s a wistful tune that's packed with regret and sadness.
Cold Damn Vampires
Things in this world can suck you dry. Bryan warns against these things - these bloodsuckers as he calls them - that drain you and leave you for dead. “Don’t let them steal your hope, child,” he encourages, his voice ringing clear and bright. He snarls his way through an apt metaphor, one enough to haunt your dreams.
Pink Skies
Half Grown
Forgiveness plays at the heart of this American Heartbreak essential.
“You can't choose your blood / but you can choose to change the chains that chained you down” Bryan advises, catching the song in the back of his throat.
Before long, he's letting out a growl and casting an ensnaring emotional net.
The Outskirts
Bryan envisions a life full of hope and wonder on the outskirts of town. The city lights can only be seen on the horizon, gathered together with the sun’s golden rays.
It’s almost another life entirely; lying far and beyond the city’s bustle, nestled somewhere in the U.S.A.
Younger Years
One’s younger years are wrought with late-night revelry, rough crowds and regrettable hangovers.
Bryan has certainly seen his fair share of all-nighters in his day. High on life and weed, the singer-songwriter finds himself “enjoying all the pain of younger years” and feeling more alive than he ever has. It’s all worth it in the end.
Me and Mine
Here, Bryan takes aim at Music Row with a sharp tongue. On ‘Me and Mine,’ he imparts the struggle he has endured to get where he is. At the time of his second studio record, Elisabeth, he may not have been a household name, but he sure is now.
“You can keep your name and burn the cash,” he seethes. No matter his success; he’s still just a boy from Oklahoma.
No Cure
Bryan is just a ramblin’ man. Ever restless, he claims “to be a man of the night”, he sings over a steady gallop. The horizon beckons him forward, even though his lover back home longs for him to stay. No matter; the road is his mistress, and he answers the call.
Purple Gas
Sarah's Place
This Road I Know
Technically a spoken word poem, ‘This Road I Know’ is greatly inspired by the work of authors John Steinbeck and Jack Kerouac.
The words are decorated over a single acoustic guitar and starry patterns of other instruments. Everyday sounds can be heard in the mix, hammering home the idea of finding home in chaos.
Corinthians (Proctor's)
Scripture in hand, Bryan kneels where music and religion cross to regale a tale about a sinful past and finding absolution. “Jet trails cut across the Winthrop County sky / That's why I reckon Sunday is a good day to die,” he opens. The scruffy acoustic arrangement gives the lyrics an even more confessional feel as Bryan seeks redemption.
Something in the Orange
She's Alright
Death is the most inescapable of human experiences. Having endured his own tragedies, Bryan pens this heart-torn ballad to his late mother.
“I'll tell you all these stories one day,” he promises. As a memorial, ‘She’s Alright’ serves as a stunning reminder on life’s ephemeral nature and how songwriting gives him closure.
November Air
Quittin' Time
Bryan eyes the clock. The 9-to-5 hustle has done a number on him, all this barely getting by breaking his soul.
Still, he pushes forward for the sake of his life and his lover, the banjo’s rumble giving the song an almost railroad song bounce. “I'm saving all my pennies / and I'm praying to the Lord,” he whispers to himself.
I Remember Everything
'68 Fastback
A firecracker in amongst the dying embers of American Heartbreak, '68 Fastback'
Bryan compares himself to car parts. It seems fitting for a broken man in great suffering. “To you I'm just salvage / I ain't ran right in years,” he admits. His performance is lonesome and heavy, as though such confessions will free him. Eventually, it does.
- BD & RJ
Hey Driver
The best collaboration from Bryan's 2023 self-titled studio album, 'Hey Driver' introduces the wider world to the wondrous voices of Tanya and Michael Trotter Jr - otherwise better known as The War And Treaty.
A notably spacious expansion in Bryan's songwriting, 'Hey Driver' finds the Okie in a familiar position; on the road, dreaming of home and in a battle with his faith. What's particularly special about this instance is the Trotters' involvement; a rasping swelter of a chorus where the duo yearn for that one place that offered happier memories.
As soon as we hit those final choruses, you can drop us off anywhere, we're happy to walk in amongst the revelry.
- RJ
Sweet DeAnn
The centerpiece for Bryan's 2019 debut, DeAnn, ‘Sweet DeAnn’ serves as an ode to his late mother, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 49.
The teary ballad recounts memories that are now only flashes in photographs. He yearns to give her a call, left only to the sadness rattling inside his head. “I miss you so,” he sings.
- BD
Tishomingo
An early slow burn in the midst of the colossal American Heartbreak record, 'Tishomingo' has become a favourite Zach Bryan song for many; the track's 70m streams (and counting) on Spotify is more than proof of that.
Alone and unsure the path he's heading is ever going to lead him back to the comfort of home, Bryan lingers in the existential. Whether he's voicing the affirmations of his mother that are chiselled in his mind or yearning for the girl that's upped sticks and left him behind, 'Tishomingo' is proof that some of Bryan's finest work is forged when battling with his damn self.
- RJ
East Side of Sorrow
The emotional standout amongst many highlights on Bryan's 2023 self-titled album, 'East Side of Sorrow' is one of the songwriter's most moving and comforting of observations.
Built around a lasting refrain of The Beatles 'Let It Be', Bryan musters the courage and fortitude to constantly look ahead, no matter how many times you are knocked down and have everything you care about taken away from you.
"I heard Turnpike's back together and they're writin' songs" Bryan exhales, reminding us that there will always be something to console us when times are bad.
- RJ
Condemned
While 'Condemned' is one of the songwriter's darker and more self-derogatory songs, it has remained another early favourite from his discography.
Taken from 2019s DeAnn, 'Condemned' pines that loneliness is one of life’s most sorrowful pains. “No one gives a damn about me,” Bryan snarls, dejected. Here, incurable hurt infects his relationships and his ability to live a fulfilled life. Heartache, death and a myriad of other experiences cause rifts in this life, and Bryan is barely getting by.
Even today, it must lift Bryan to see so many sing along in unison to a song filled with such pain, an example of finding union and comfort in suffering.
- BD & RJ
Sun to Me
‘Sun to Me’ has been a true slow burner in Bryan's catalogue. Originally a bright and pretty love song nestled in the deep maze of American Heartbreak, the song has taken on a world of its own, becoming a mainstay within fan-favourite lists and the most listened to song from the record, with well over 320m streams on Spotify alone.
It's easy to see why. As Bryan searches the world over for love, he shares sage advice his mother once gave him; “Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest parts of you”. Over a blossoming, warm melody, the singer-songwriter wanders until he finds the love he always needed.
- BD & RJ
Snow
Love can be baptismal. “You bring heaven down to me,” sings Bryan on 'Snow', the stunning take from his 2019 album DeAnn. The love he is expressing is so strong that it’s a heavenly experience, something he’s never experienced in his life.
Again reflecting on his faith, he draws comparisons to Jesus’ ability to wash away your sin and make you pure again; “She takes my stain and makes me white as snow,” he adds. It's a striking piece of imagery that can felt in many forms, particularly when starting afresh or finding new love.
- BD
Burn Burn Burn
Another of Bryan's standalone singles from 2022, 'Burn, Burn, Burn' is a conflicted battle cry between aspiring for something and ensuring you remain present.
Building up gracefully from gentle thought into furious, screaming exaltation, the song possesses some of Bryan's most thought-provoking and lyrically poetic turns of phrase, with the songwriter reflecting on his relationship with God as he yearns for contentment and clarity in life; "I know I'm bound to die one day / So when I reach those golden gates / I pray to say I did the best I can".
At the end of the day, when we all leave this mortal coil, all we can hope for is that we made the most of it.
- RJ
Nine Ball
As exhibited in the big screen-size music video for 'Nine Ball' starring Matthew McConaughey, there's nothing thicker than blood.
Centred around a cool hand pool player and his drunken gambler of a father, with 'Nine Ball', Bryan cleverly detains the lengths family will both take and carry us and what we'll do for them, whether right or wrong.
Another highlight of 2023's Boys of Faith EP, 'Nine Ball' is one of Bryan's more pointed and direct narratives, a unique perspective within a non-autobiographical story.
- RJ
Jamie (Feat. Charles Wesley Godwin)
Not only Zach's best collaboration, but perhaps the finest example of his songwriting possessing layers that only reveal themselves with repeat listens.
A beloved collaboration with Charles Wesley Godwin from 2022's Summertime Blues EP, ‘Jamie’ speaks of immense heartbreak, the sort from which someone can never recover. The protagonist witnesses the love of his life fade with time, only the memories remaining. “'Cause this life ain't worth livin' / if the love that you've been given is taken before you are,” sings Godwin.
A beautifully sad observation of love and loss, with 'Jamie', Bryan and Godwin exhibited their natural partnership as collaborators and friends.
- BD & RJ
Heading South
The song that introduced Bryan into the hearts and minds of many, 'Heading South' was the sparkler burning on a dark, humid night in 2019.
Another of Bryan's neat observations about optimists gunning for something worth living for while everyone's out to stop them, 'Heading South', is a pissed off piece of advice to not be afraid to throw a punch if someone's getting in your way.
Through a sweat-covered recording posted to TikTok, 'Heading South' introduced many to a young man not long of this world but damn well aware of the hurdles within it.
- RJ
Fifth of May
Released in November of 2022 as part of a double-AA side with 'The Greatest Day of My Life', 'Fifth of May' not only captured the hearts of millions as Bryan's stock was rising, but it cemented his generational songwriting talent.
While illustrating heartbreak, loneliness and the rush of sudden memories may not differ from his contemporaries, the way in which Bryan does so with the sharpest of hooks ("And I can feel when your body ain't in this bed / I can still hear you laughing last spring in my head") is what pulls us in so deep, so far that we can't escape without facing our hurdles ourselves.
Honest and unyielding, 'Fifth of May' gives it to us straight; no matter how much we try to lose ourselves in our vices, we'll always have to face what's to come.
- RJ
Oklahoma Smokeshow
The unquestionable highlight of Bryan's beloved 2022 Summertime Blues EP, 'Oklahoma Smokeshow' was born out of the rotting of dreams and how your hometown can become the death of you.
The darker side of the Great American Bar Scene, the song is narrated from the side of unrequited love, as Bryan pleads for a lover to realise how much they could have if they could see a life outside of the local bad boys and gut rot whiskey in the dives around town.
Sure, everyone may scream "He's an asshole from back home", but its hard not to cry when Bryan sings "That small town bar scene / where small vices kill your big dreams".
- RJ
The perennial closer to all of Zach Bryan's concerts, 'Revival' is the liquor-aloft anthem that has had its scripture tattooed across many a body since its release, a liberating and fearless song that embraces all vices.
Exchanging sin for sin, Bryan gathers his buddies and heads out to the local watering hole to get baptized “in a bottle of Beam”. The all-night binge may just do the trick to wash away their sins, but we’ll see how they feel when the morning light breaks.
'Revival' has become Bryan's defining hymnal, a song one and all chant in unison at the end of any given day.
- BD & RJ
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