'Purple Gas' by Zach Bryan and Noeline Hofmann – Lyrics & Meaning

When Canadian singer-songwriter Noeline Hofmann brought her trilling acoustic lullaby 'Purple Gas' to Zach Bryan's Belting Bronco song series, singing the tune in the back of a moving Ford, the 'Something in the Orange' hitmaker was hooked.

The pair soon retooled the tune, recording it as a duet that appears on Bryan's album The Great American Bar Scene, released on Independence Day (July 4). Lucky for us, 'Purple Gas' wasn't a song Bryan could hold onto for that long. He officially dropped it Friday (June 7); now, we're all hooked too.

'Purple Gas' is a simple song, born from a rounded pluck and a honeyed strum. The melody never really deviates from its delicate pattern, allowing the tune to be guided rather than constrained.

It may not be the most impressive or innovative undertaking, but it perfectly mirrors the lyrics, a simple sound for some simple words that make for an impactful listen.

I've got plates for Purple Gas
'Bout the only break I catch
But I am not the kind of man
To blame the dealer on a losing hand
Have a lone star in my eye
The darker the sky, the brighter it shines
Pumpjack checks and baler twine
A ton of grit or maybe it's spite

Upon first Google, you'll find that "purple gas" is a strain of marijuana. With the mention of a "dealer" in the first verse, that seems like it may check out, but as phrases like "pumpjack checks" and "baler twine" begin the filter through the song, purple gas becomes something quite different.

According to the blog A Prairie Perspective, in the 1940s, the Canadian government made farmers' bulk fuel purchases exempt from provincial taxes. In order to distinguish the fuel for farm use from that of civilian use, it would be dyed purple. Vehicles and machinery that used this purple gas would be marked with the letter "F" on their license plates.

So when Bryan opens the song, singing "I've got plates for Purple Gas /
'Bout the only break I catch," it means he may get a deal on fuel but it's hard luck with everything else. He croons, though, that he's not the kind of person to blame anyone else for the cards he's been dealt.

Hofmann's sparkling lilt arrives to finish the verse, singing how she's got a fire in her belly and a twinkle in her eye, wondering if it's "a ton of grit or maybe it's spite".

And if I weren't a flatland boy, I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon if the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here for a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died if I weren't a flatland boy
If I weren't a flatland boy

The slow-burning ballad seems to be set on Canadian prairie-lands, a great expanse of golden nothing, and the two artist sing of what life is like there, what it's like being a "flatland boy" without a hill to die upon.

The pair dream of greater heights, but at the end of the day, it's hard to imagine being anything but a flatland boy.

I hammer down, hair straight back
World blurs past, tell me how's it that
My horizon line's static
I guess at least it's a sure bet
Was taught to not throw the first fist
But if you take a hit, finish that son of a bitch
In a life having the upper hand's a myth
Your only fighting chance is too stubborn to quit

They sing of hard work and the harsh way of life on the prairie, of learning how to hammer, how to brawl and how to take a hit along the way. In the verse, the two sing about wanting more, but knowing that life here is a "sure bet" for a flatland boy.

They sing that you can trust a "sly thumb of Rye sometimes" to take the edge off and look for different days ahead on the horizon, but at the end of the day, you "can't get there, it goes on forever / Oh, it just goes on forever / You keep your head down, it goes on forever."

But I've got plates for purple gas
I've got plates for purple gas

Ahead of the release of 'Purple Gas', Bryan took a moment to gush about the Hofmann-penned tune and his duet partner.

He wrote in a post on his social media: "This song brought me to tears the first time I heard it so it was really important for me that Noeline gave me the privelege to sing it with her. I have never covered another musician on an album and it’s because I was waiting on someone to write a song like this. Noeline resonates like Gillian Welch to me and Gillian is one of my favorite musicians to ever live; now Noeline is too".

Along with those words, he noted his plans to make a fan-sourced music video to go along with the song. "I like doing these because it makes me feel so much more connected to the people that listen to my music," he told his fans, recruiting them to "send anything ya’ll want: hometown, farmland, American centered, midwestern, western style footage to this link, we will not be picky: https://zachbryan.warnerrecords.com"

I've got plates for Purple Gas
'Bout the only break I catch
But I am not the kind of man
To blame the dealer on a losing hand
Have a lone star in my eye
The darker the sky, the brighter it shines
Pumpjack checks and baler twine
A ton of grit or maybe it's spite

And if I weren't a flatland boy, I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon if the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here for a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died if I weren't a flatland boy
If I weren't a flatland boy

I hammer down, hair straight back
World blurs past, tell me how's it that
My horizon line's static
I guess at least it's a sure bet
Was taught to not throw the first fist
But if you take a hit, finish that son of a bitch
In a life having the upper hand's a myth
Your only fighting chance is too stubborn to quit

And if I weren't a flatland boy, I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon if the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here for a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died if I weren't a flatland boy
If I weren't a flatland boy

Retired rail ties, point-nine wire
Neighbor kid on the fencin' pliers
Fargo that turns over fine
At forty below if you cuss it right
A sly thumb of Rye sometimes
Keep a bottle hid with the Bio-Mycin
You can dull the edge, you can look ahead
But can't get there, it goes on forever
Oh, it just goes on forever
You keep your head down, it goes on forever

But I've got plates for purple gas
I've got plates for purple gas

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