‘High Road’ by Zach Bryan - Lyrics & Meaning

Originally teased under the working title of ‘Motorbreath’, ‘High Road’ arrived hot on the heels of ‘This World's A Giant’ in November 2024, during the contentious aftermath of Zach Bryan's break-up with BFF's Podcast co-host, Brianna LaPaglia.

Zach dropped ‘High Road’ on the same night as Brianna's tell-all podcast episode, during which she accused her ex of ‘emotional abuse’ and trying to get her to sign a $12 million NDA.

Similarly to ‘This World's A Giant’, ‘High Road’ features an ethereal set of accompanying vocals from New York indie-pop singer-songwriter, Grumpy, also known as Heaven Schmitt. Additionally, ‘High Road’ includes the exact same artwork as ‘This World's A Giant’, which was captured during a New York ‘secret’ show in December 2021. The use of the same cover art could be seen as a hint that both ‘This World's A Giant’ and ‘High Road’ may appear on Zach's forthcoming album.

On the eve of ‘High Road’s release, Zach Bryan took to Instagram to explain the inspiration behind the track, which seems to have been penned about his late mother, Annette DeAnn, who died in 2016 and has served as the muse for fan-favourites such as ‘Sweet DeAnn’.

Zach Bryan reflected, “After not being home for a year and a half I drove out to my mothers gravestone in the dead of night a few days back on familiar Oklahoma roads and I came to realize just like in the past, that she never would call me again”.

The ‘Revival’ hitmaker went on to surprise fans with the announcement that he's stepping away from touring in 2025 to pursue a Masters degree in France, “Told her I quit touring because I got accepted to get my masters in Paris next year, I told her I was back in Oklahoma, told her about all my best friends in New York and all the nights we howled with the moon, told her about the immeasurable laughter my band and me have shared these last five years, all the calluses on my finger tips, every tear shed, told her about making it on The Rolling Stone and most importantly told her about porch swinging with my beautiful sister”.

Zach concluded, “I wrote the chorus for this song a month or two back and finished it when I realized I was blessed with all these things. I figured it was about time I released it. Thank you guys for listening to ‘This Worlds a Giant’ last night and thank you to all the people who love me; who have truly carried the weight with me. Seems that all these Quiet Dreams have gotten much too heavy but I’m home now and I’ll hold you through the pain. High Road is out today and I appreciate all of you”.

Sonically, ‘High Road’ feels cut from the same cloth as ‘This World's A Giant’, which finds Zach Bryan exploring a sparse, atmospheric feel. There's a distincitve melody repeated throughout, in the same way that ‘Pink Skies’ pivots around one refrain, while Grumpy's backing vocals accentuate the haunting ambience of the track. The intricacy of these harmonies feel as though they could represent the ‘ghosts’ that Zach depicts as being trapped in the windows and walls. We get the eerie, foreboding cry of what appears to be an electric guitar, which builds the ominous mood as ‘High Road’ approaches its energising crescendo.

“Adderall and white-lace bras that makes you fall in love
You left your blue jeans in my pickup truck
New York this time of year ain't good for me
’Cause all my friends lack self-control and empathy
All the boys are crawlin' in some shithole in the wall again
I missed this place more than I missed my home
Everyone is tellin' me that I need help or therapy
But all I need is to be left alone”

‘High Road’ opens with the protagonist looking back at a recent relationship, as he laments how the haze of taking drugs like Adderall, combined with the allure of his ex's lingerie, left him feeling as though he was in love. The implication is that this was perhaps a substance-fuelled illusion, with the narrator then hinting at a past romantic encounter in his truck, as his ex had forgotten to pick up her blue jeans.

New York is a recurring motif throughout both ‘This World's A Giant’ and ‘High Road’, with the single artwork being taken in the Big Apple, while the backing vocalist, Grumpy, is a New York artist. In this verse, the protagonist finds the city holds too many memories for him, while his friends in New York aren't much help, due to their lack of “self-control and empathy”. He suggests they're out drinking once again, flipping the classic description of a bar as a ‘hole in the wall’ by portraying it as a ‘shithole in the wall’. Despite framing New York at this time of year as bad for him, the narrator then admits he's missed being back here more than he misses home. He concludes this verse by referencing how everyone is encouraging him to go to therapy, possibly to tackle his consuming grief, but what he really wants is some peace and quiet, as is the case on ’This World's A Giant’.

“She’s bound to come back and haunt you forever
There's ghosts in the windows and walls
I'vе waited by the telеphone all fuckin' night
For someone that ain't ever gonna call”

Although the opening verse appears to be about a past relationship, from this point on, it feels like ‘High Road’ morphs into being about the loss of a loved one - seemingly Zach Bryan's late mother, DeAnn, judging by his comments ahead of the song's release.

Zach shared via Instagram, “After not being home for a year and a half I drove out to my mothers gravestone in the dead of night a few days back on familiar Oklahoma roads and I came to realize just like in the past, that she never would call me again”.

This aligns with the final line of the chorus, where Zach sings, “I'vе waited by the telеphone all fuckin' night / For someone that ain't ever gonna call”. Again, this could also be interpreted as being about waiting for an ex to ring him, but bearing in mind Zach Bryan's Instagram post, it certainly feels like it's instead about his feelings of grief.

“Remember tellin' me I was gonna hit the big time
You died, guess you told God it was true
Remember sittin' on your porch, you talked about your old regrets
In Tulsa while the bad things took your brain
It seems the quiet dreams have gotten much too heavy
But I'm home now and I’ll hold you through the pain”

This verse consolidates the idea that ‘High Road’ is about the loss of someone close to you, with the protagonist recalling how he told them he was going to become a star. Zach could be implying here that, when his mother passed and went to Heaven, she was still looking out for him and “told God it was true” that he would become successful.

Zach Bryan reminisces about spending time with his mother on the porch in his home-state of Oklahoma. Then, Zach references his much-loved 2020 EP, Quiet, Heavy Dreams, in the line, “It seems the quiet dreams have gotten much too heavy”.

There's an overwhelming sense of Zach feeling jaded and weighed-down by life in the spotlight, which we also get in ‘This World's A Giant’. Again, he concludes on a more positive note, as he affirms that he's “home now”, which could suggest he's returned to Oklahoma, but also on a deeper level, that he's found his way and become the man he used to be. This feeling of discomfort in a cold, hostile space that isn't your home pervades ‘This World's A Giant’, and is highlighted once more through the ‘High Road’ chorus, particularly in the lines, “She’s bound to come back and haunt you forever / There's ghosts in the windows and walls”.

Hours before the arrival of ‘High Road’, Zach Bryan took to Instagram for a rare post, in which he explained the circumstances and sense of homesickness that coloured the creation of the new song, “After not being home for a year and a half I drove out to my mothers gravestone in the dead of night a few days back on familiar Oklahoma roads and I came to realize just like in the past, that she never would call me again”.

Zach movingly outlined how he spent some time at her grave, chatting to his late mother, “Told her I quit touring because I got accepted to get my masters in Paris next year, I told her I was back in Oklahoma, told her about all my best friends in New York and all the nights we howled with the moon, told her about the immeasurable laughter my band and me have shared these last five years, all the calluses on my finger tips, every tear shed, told her about making it on The Rolling Stone and most importantly told her about porch swinging with my beautiful sister”.

The ‘I Remember Everything’ chart-topper then shed some light on when ‘High Road’ was penned, “I wrote the chorus for this song a month or two back and finished it when I realized I was blessed with all these things. I figured it was about time I released it”.

Zach Bryan concluded his post with a message directly addressing his loyal fanbase, “Thank you guys for listening to ‘This Worlds a Giant’ last night and thank you to all the people who love me; who have truly carried the weight with me. Seems that all these Quiet Dreams have gotten much too heavy but I’m home now and I’ll hold you through the pain. High Road is out today and I appreciate all of you”.

“Adderall and white-lace bras that makes you fall in love
You left your blue jeans in my pickup truck
New York this time of year ain't good for me
’Cause all my friends lack self-control and empathy
All the boys are crawlin' in some shithole in the wall again
I missed this place more than I missed my home
Everyone is tellin' me that I need help or therapy
But all I need is to be left alone

-

She’s bound to come back and haunt you forever
There's ghosts in the windows and walls
I'vе waited by the telеphone all fuckin' night
For someone that ain't ever gonna call

-

Remember tellin' me I was gonna hit the big time
You died, guess you told God it was true
Remember sittin' on your porch, you talked about your old regrets
In Tulsa while the bad things took your brain
It seems the quiet dreams have gotten much too heavy
But I'm home now and I’ll hold you through the pain

-

She’s bound to come back and haunt you forever
There's ghosts in the windows and walls
I’ve waited by the telephone all fuckin' night
For someone that ain't ever gonna call

-

She's bound to come back and haunt you forever
There’s ghosts in the windows and walls
I'm waitin' by the telephone all fuckin' night
Someone that ain't ever gonna call

-

Adderall and white-lace bras that'll makes you fall in love
You left your blue jeans in my pickup truck
New York this time of year ain't good for me
'Cause all my friends lack self-control and empathy”

For more on Zach Bryan, see below: