'Say Why' by Zach Bryan – Lyrics & Meaning

A lot happened for Zach Bryan in the year between the release of his massive 2024 collection, The Great American Bar Scene, and his latest studio album, With Heaven On Top, which dropped on Friday (Jan. 9).

There was the sprawling Quittin' Time Tour, a year of major sold-out stadium shows around the globe, as well as breakups, drama, and most recently, a marriage. All of these events – all the growth and change and heartache and love – seem to inhabit his new album today.

The album's 'Say Why', especially, charts the 'Something in the Orange' hitmaker's decision to get sober, a lifestyle change he opened up about in late 2025.

'Say Why' is among With Heaven On Top's most full-bodied performances. Opening with the shuddering stomp of a hollow beat, the sharp pull of acoustic strings and the far-off hum of a violin, the tune quickly builds into Springsteen-esque banger, armed with thundering rhythms, meaty guitars and exuberant horns. 'Say Why' is a celebration of sounds, the song featuring one of the album's more thrilling compositions.

"I spent my last dollar on some courage I could buy
Forty ounces of it at some truck stop in Ohio
Spent forty days walking and another forty high
Just for you to give me forty reasons for goodbye"

'Say Why' opens with Bryan revealing his struggles with alcohol. In the song, he sings how he's spent what money he has left on some liquid courage, using a 40-ounce bottle of – what seems to be – beer as a crutch for getting through life.

Bryan addressed his dependency on alcohol on social media in Nov. 2025. In a post, he shared with fans:

“Being in the military for a decade and then thrown into a spotlight that I hadn't fully comprehended the scope of, had some subconscious effects on me as a person. I was not content but I also feared showing weakness because that's not who I am or how I was raised. To charge forward and to never settle was the motto. I was stuck in a perpetual discontent that led me to always reaching for alcohol, not for the taste, but because there was a consistent black hole in me always needing its void filled”.

He went on the explain: “I was having earth-shattering panic attacks. The anxiety I felt was paralyzing and I thought since I was successful, had the money I always longed for, and had great friends, that I could tough anything out. All that said; I went out of my way to find a therapist and made the conscious decision to do something about my toxic relationship with booze and how I cope with major life changes”.

At the time of writing the message, he was celebrating two months sober and 'Say Why' seems to chart the first 40 or so days of that journey and the life changes that followed.

"I spent my last dollar on some courage I could buy
Forty ounces of it at some truck stop in Ohio
Spent forty days walking and another forty high
Just for you to give me forty reasons for goodbye"

I spent my last dollar on some courage I could buy
Forty ounces of it at some truck stop in Ohio
Spent forty days walking and another forty high
Just for you to give me forty reasons for goodbye

Spent forty days drying out and forty days sober
Smokin' cigarettes and quotin' Bible verses on the sofa
You said, "All's not lost, just an eye for an eye"
So I carried my cross to the bar last night

Say why, yeah, say why
Yeah, say why, say why

I spent my last dollar on some courage I could buy
Forty ounces of it before you tell me goodbye
Still drove forty hours and I'd drive forty more
Forty days in the desert just to wind up at your door
Forty ouncеs, forty minutes, forty days and forty ways
Forty reasons that you're lеaving and forty more you'll stay

Say why, say why
Say why
No
Say why, say why
Say why, say why
Say why, say why
Say why, say why

I spent my last dollar on some courage I could buy
Forty ounces of it at some truck stop in Ohio
Spent forty days walking and another forty high
Just for you to give me forty reasons for goodbye

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For more on Zach Bryan, see below:

Zach Bryan

Artist