'Plastic Cigarette' by Zach Bryan – Lyrics & Meaning

The fifteenth track on Zach Bryan’s highly anticipated album ‘With Heaven On Top’ is one that we’re already a little familiar with. The Oklahoman writer first teased the song with a live performance of ‘Plastic Cigarette’ during his legendary summer of shows in Dublin, Ireland.

The track recalls a bittersweet summer romance, one that ultimately ended in sadness but some of the moments he’s recounting do still have a place in his heart - but to move on, he needs to let them go. Fans think that this song is about his ex-girlfriend Hannah Duncan, an Australian model who had a brief summer relationship with Bryan in the aftermath of his messy breakup with podcaster Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia. The relationship with LaPaglia was defined by its ups, downs, declarations and demise - ultimately, ending in fiery accusations of emotional abuse and a $12 million non-disclosure agreement.

Bryan’s summer with Duncan seemed almost picture-perfect judging by the photographs we saw on socials. The two supposedly met in New York City before jetting off to Australia to spend some time together in the sunshine and ‘Plastic Cigarette’ seems to be a recollection of that time. However, there might be a couple of references to LaPaglia on this track too.

Although this song might need some decoding and investigating, the teasers we got before its initial release led to it quickly becoming a fan favourite.

'Plastic Cigarette' comes just over halfway through the epic album, making an impact with its confident percussion and acoustic guitar accompaniment. As with many of the tracks on the album, Bryan makes strategic use of vocal harmonies to emphasise certain lines, before filling out the chorus with a warmer sound.

Bryan's phrasing on the track is unexpected, letting his thoughts roll into each other, leading to an abrupt end that has us reflecting on the story we've just been told.

‘Well, I ain't written a love song in so long as your hair leads down your spine
But I don't mind a few lines tonight, I'll regret it for the rest of time
Let your hips and your lips and your fingertips slip against the city streets
Seepin' in again, sleepin' in while my friends get high on the edge of the West Side Highway’

‘Plastic Cigarette’ begins with a picture-perfect love story, one that’s filled with love songs, nights in the city and mornings waking up together. As Bryan sings that he “ain’t written a love song in so long as your hair leads down your spine”, it sounds as if this relationship could be bringing some light into a time of darkness.

With the song rumoured to be about Hannah Duncan, Bryan’s ex-girlfriend who he spent time with in Australia in the aftermath of the dramatic breakup with Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia, the pieces are all starting to make sense. Maybe this was a sweet summer romance… with a sweet song to capture it?

‘Did you ever make it back to Byron Bay the day you told me to quit drinkin'?
And thinkin' that I was gonna die before thirty, your mom was so worried about
All those kids in the house tearin' picture frames down
Our fathers were never around when we were younger’

The next verse addresses some of the personal struggles and flaws that Bryan isn’t keeping hidden. Announcing his sobriety and mental health journey back at the end of 2025, ‘With Heaven On Top’ has seen him being open about the parts of himself that might have caused some downfalls in the past. He sings of someone who told him to “quit drinkin” and being stuck on thoughts that he would “die before thirty”.

He also makes reference to his own childhood, one in which Bryan’s parents divorced when he was only 12, and he’s been carrying some of that damage with him ever since.

‘So let me go, I saw you on the river's edge
Draggin' on a plastic cigarette
With your swim top still wet
So let it go, meetin' you out on the coast
You hate the smell of real smoke
So why'd you always keep me so close?‘

The chorus of ‘Plastic Cigarette’ is a catchy, bittersweet capture of that time. As Bryan sings of seeing this girl “on the river’s edge”, it brings up connections to his 2025 song ‘River Washed Hair’. However, as he’s asking her to “let it go”, perhaps they both need to move on from reliving these memories - after all, it may have just been a summer fling.

‘You were collectin' shells out on the Bay Shore, you know I was a shell before?
Deep in the hands of another, my brother
Had told me to leave, but I didn't believe
That evil would mean some people you meet out in Queens’

Once again, Bryan’s clever writing comes into play as he links her collecting shells on the beach to the way that she collected him - a shell of a person before they met. With many thinking this song contains references to LaPaglia, who Bryan met “out in Queens”, this verse might just solidify those theories. Telling her that he used to be “deep in the hands of another” who he describes as “evil”, the full story seems to emerge as the song reaches an end.

'The way the rain came down the other day in Byron Bay
Made me feel so alone, so I just went home
And scribbled some poem
That I know that you'll never read'

Rather than this being a painful, or scathing song about a past love, it acts more of an appreciation for someone who helped get through dark times. It might not have been a love that lasts, it wasn't a perfect fit, but it had an impact that lingers. Maybe that poem that he scribbled down became this song?

Well, I ain't written a love song in so long as your hair leads down your spine
But I don't mind a few lines tonight, I'll regret it for the rest of time
Let your hips and your lips and your fingertips slip against the city streets
Seepin' in again, sleepin' in while my friends get high on the edge of the West Side Highway

-

Did you ever make it back to Byron Bay the day you told me to quit drinkin'?
And thinkin' that I was gonna die before thirty, your mom was so worried about
All those kids in the house tearin' picture frames down
Our fathers were never around when we were younger

-

So let me go, I saw you on the river's edge
Draggin' on a plastic cigarette
With your swim top still wet
So let it go, meetin' you out on the coast
You hate the smell of real smoke
So why'd you always keep me so close?

-

You were collectin' shells out on the Bay Shore, you know I was a shell before?
Deep in the hands of another, my brother
Had told me to leave, but I didn't believe
That evil would mean some people you meet out in Queens

-

The way the rain came down the other day in Byron Bay
Made me feel so alone, so I just went home
And scribbled some poem
That I know that you'll never read

-

So let it go, I saw you on the river's edge
Draggin' on a plastic cigarette
With your swim top still wet
So let me go, meetin' you out on the coast
You hate the smell of real smoke
Why'd you always keep it so close?

-

So let it go, I saw you on the river's edge
Draggin' on a plastic cigarette
With your swim top still wet

--

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Zach Bryan

Artist