'Sundown Girls' by Zach Bryan – Lyrics & Meaning

Anyone who was lucky enough to partake in Zach Bryan’s Epic UK Summer (as we’re calling it) might find this track just a little bit extra special. ‘Sundown Girls’ comes as the penultimate song on his highly anticipated 2026 album, ‘With Heaven On Top’. It captures the feeling of his career-defining shows in London perfectly and, at least for the Holler team, has quickly become a favourite.

In June 2025, Zach Bryan headlined two sold-out nights at BST’s Hyde Park in London. For British fans of the artist, it made it an unforgettable summer and it seems like it's been on the Oklahoman’s mind ever since too. The track was first teased on his socials by Bryan amid the attention he was receiving for a glimpse at his politically fuelled ‘Bad News.’ In contrast to the controversial track, ’Sundown Girls’ saw the songwriter reflective and longing for the London sunshine, perhaps for a simpler, happier time. The track very quickly found its way into fans’ TikToks and Instagram Posts as they found a way to capture the legendary summer of music.

During his time in London, Bryan made a couple of stops at some of his musician friends’ UK gigs too - by the sounds of it, it’s been a while since the star has been able to feel like “just a fan”. On ‘Sundown Girls’, he’s immortalising that memory with his ever-pretty, always-tricky words.

‘Sundown Girls’ is raw, gritty and feels pretty close to the authentic teasers we get of Bryan’s tracks before their studio recordings. The song may come in at just over 2 minutes, but it marks a standout moment of reflection and appreciation from the Oklahoman artist on his latest album.

Strings fill out the track to create a warmth as bright as a British summer sunshine. Bryan has his trusty acoustic guitar in hand, and some banjo picking and gentle electric slide guitar piece the track together flawlessly. It’s a rough and ready classic.

‘Recall watchin' the sun out in London
Slowly hit the ground
Played out at Hyde Park, oh, and the night stars
Slowly came around’

On June 28th and 29th 2025, Bryan headlined the iconic British music festival BST Hyde Park, performing to over 130,000 fans in London, UK. The weekend was drenched in sunshine and across a lengthy setlist, Bryan made his way through some of his big hits and underrated gems. As he reached the much loved tracks ‘Pink Skies’ and ‘Something In The Orange’, the sun was setting over the crowd and, for Bryan, this must have been quite the sight from the stage: "watchin the sun out in London, slowly hit the ground".

‘First time in so long I'd seen lips sing along
In the back of a crowd’

Whilst the Hyde Park crowds did go on for what seemed like miles, everyone there singing along to every word of Bryan’s songs, this wasn’t the only British country crowd the Oklahoman was seen in.

Red-dirt legends Turnpike Troubadours were not only opening up for Bryan at his festival dates, but also had a few stops on their own UK tour - their own headlining show at Islington Assembly Hall saw Bryan joining them on stage for a rendition of ‘The Bird Hunters’ before seamlessly slinking back into the crowd to enjoy the gig, as a fan.

Just a few days later, Bryan made another appearance, this time at Noeline Hofmann’s show at the small London venue, The Lexington. Once again, the country megastar was getting the chance to “sing along in the back of a crowd”. We all know how much live music means, so getting to be the one listening for a change must have made a treasured memory for Bryan.

‘The road goes on 'til it ends
Halfway across the world with them sundown girls and my friends
The road goes on 'til it ends
We'll feel alive tonight 'til 'bout 4 or 5 then sleep in’

As Bryan noted on his track 2025 ‘Streets of London’, the British capital is quite the place to be for a summer night out - one that might see you (accidentally) being awake from sundown to sunrise. Bringing his full band with him saw an impressive number of people on the Hyde Park stage - all his bandmates though are evidently his friends too.

How lucky can one man get to travel “halfway across the world with them sundown girls and [his] friends”? Across the album, it seems as if Bryan’s reflecting on just how lucky he is and how much of a monumental year 2025 was for artist and fans alike.

Recall watchin' the sun out in London
Slowly hit the ground
Played out at Hyde Park, oh, and the night stars
Slowly came around
First time in so long I'd seen lips sing along
In the back of a crowd

-

The road goes on 'til it ends
Halfway across the world with them sundown girls and my friends
The road goes on 'til it ends
We'll feel alive tonight 'til 'bout 4 or 5 then sleep in

-

Recall watchin' the sun out in London
Slowly hit the ground
Played out at Hyde Park, oh, and the night stars
Slowly came around

-

The road goes on 'til it ends
Halfway across the world with them sundown girls and my friends
The road goes on 'til it ends
We'll feel alive tonight 'til 'bout 4 or 5 then sleep in

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For more on Zach Bryan, see below:

Zach Bryan

Artist