"I Thought Of My Son When I Wrote It": Zach Bryan Reveals the Story Behind 'You'll Get By'

In his two-hour long interview with Matthew McConaughey, "Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs - On The Porch," Zach Bryan reveals the sentiment behind 'You'll Get By,' a song he had his future son in mind for as he put pen to paper.

Bryan reveals to McConaughey that the true birth of "Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs" was in Paris, with his wife Samantha. It was around this time, Bryan said, that he hit a sort of "roadblock" with music. As Bryan hit a rough patch with music, he felt like nothing he was doing was working, adding on, "I felt like it was over."

According to Bryan, it was this night he relapsed on alcohol, and the morning after a drunken night, he wrote 'You'll Get By,' the first song ever written for the now massively successful EP.

The final song on the track list, the song acts as a beacon for life advice and words of wisdom, a sort of guide for clipping along and a road map for getting through tough times. "You'll get by just fine," "So, be kind when it ain't easy, don't let the vices in deep, call up your momma when you've got the time."

Bryan gets candid with McConaughey about his future children, goals of becoming a father, and the words of wisdom he wants to impart on his future son.

"I thought of my son during that, whatever son I have one day," Bryan said. "If you're listening to this, that's why I wrote it."

The entire purpose of the two-hour long interview, Bryan stated, surrounds the idea of his future children and grandchildren getting the chance to see their father and grandfather become candid about many things; from early life to thus far in his career.

At this point in his life, Bryan says time again that he's excited and ready to have children, revealing that he's been left fascinated watching his friends, bandmates, and the people around him become parents. While he shares that he hopes to raise kind, empathetic children, he says that the most important job anyone can have is being a parent.

It's clear that the thought of children has been occupying space in Bryan's head for some time now, however. He has previously wrestled with the idea in his music quite often, such as in his 2026 song 'Appetite,' where he sings, "But what if I don't want children, to grow up like their father willing, to stir shit up and start a fight, work themselves up an appetite."

On a sweeter note, he plans for the lessons he'll teach his children in projects like his 2024 'Lucky Enough (Poem),' where he says, "I'll have some kids and teach them that we are all the same, Sufferin', smilin', silhouettes of every passin' day."

The 'Something In The Orange' songster also said that he knows the value of receiving valuable advice from one's own father. As he recalls his own father reassuring him that he'd get through the tough things in his life, it seems as though the sentiment behind 'You'll Get By' is really generational advice, offered from one Bryan name to the next.

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