County music artist, Zach Bryan, released his new album, The Great American Bar Scene on July 4th, 2024. The album is composed of 19 songs; “Lucky Enough” (Poem), “Mechanical Bull”, “The Great American Bar Scene”, “28”, “American Nights”, “Oak Island”, “Purple Gas”, “Boons”, “The Way Back”, “Memphis; The Blues” (feat. John Moreland), “Like Ida”, “Bass Boat”, “Better Days” (feat. John Mayer), “Towers”, “Sandpaper”, “Northern Thunder”, “Funny Man”, “Pink Skies”, and “Bathwater”.
After the album was released, its songs have been blowing up on social media. The people of TikTok have spoken and the country songs from this album have been tugging at their heartstrings, creating a sense of familiarity and nostalgia. “Better Days” has become a fan favorite for those who love Zach Bryan and John Mayer. Individuals have been getting tattoos of the lyrics, such as “How lucky we are,” from “28” or even a mechanical bull to honor “Mechanical Bull”.
As much as fans love the album, much of its popularity is due to Zach Bryan stating that this tour, The Quittin’ Time Tour, will be his last tour. Zach Bryan’s Spotify biography was updated to confirm that he is “currently on his last tour.” This has resulted in fans wanting to grasp and hold onto the album in case it is his last. “28” is the most popular song on the album specifically for its words, “How lucky we are,” because that is truly the best way to explain how fans feel about Zach Bryan’s music and the privilege they have had listening to it.
Fans have also felt a sense of melancholy over a variety of lyrics found throughout the songs that portray Bryan’s burnout from making music such as, “these songs used to free me, now there’s nothing freeing in this,” from “Bath Water”, “It aint been my week and It aint been my year” from “Northern Thunder” and “I’m so tired of wastin away,” from “Better Days”. Zach Bryan’s music has captured the hearts of fans everywhere, to hear that he is slowly losing his passion for music has resulted in the community coming together to give one last OORAH to the former Marine.
