Overtime - Zach Bryan

Overtime - Zach Bryan

3:10

Zach Bryan, 2023

Written by Zach Bryan

This is a down-home country banger with rock sensibilities.  It's a declaration of being a loner, a maverick, a working man who didn't listen to the naysayers.  "But I been scrapin' by my whole damn life / And granddaddy worked a double 'til the day he died / Said, Never let this world's earthly pride get you down."  It's got a singalong groove, and Bryan is a fine lyricist, but to me the delivery lacks the fireball energy that the words inhabit.  Maybe he's been working so hard, he's too tired to give the take the oomph it deserves.  

Revival - Zach Bryan

Revival - Zach Bryan

3:40

Elisabeth, 2020

Written by Zach Bryan

With its sparse instrumentation, this song is raw and feels intimate, like you're hearing a bar band playing some favorite song after hours, just for themselves.  It has the kind of sing-along chorus that Middle America and indie hipsters alike can get behind: "For the sake of my survival / Baptize me in a bottle of Beam, put Johnny on the vinyl."  It's got that old time religion, but with a shot of whiskey and the gospel choir plays outlaw country.  He confesses his sins and the expiation is a good time with the boys.