Zach Bryan’s Poem “This Road I Know” Hits Home For The Dreamers And Wanderers

Zach Bryan… singer, songwriter… poet?

Lots of people have said that Zach’s songs are really poems set to music (he even sold T-Shirts a while back saying so), but this pivot by Zach to open the doors and let us hear his writing not constrained by melodies, phrasing and music is every bit as unexpected as it does make perfect sense.

The guy has a true knack for words, so why not spread your wings?

Inspired by Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck, Zach wrote and recorded a poem reminiscent of Kerouac’s tales from “On The Road,” with dreams and visions summed up in classic Zach Bryan fashion.

“So I love Kerouac and Steinbeck. I am a reader and I love poetry. Everyone always asks how I write such decent songs and it’s because I just write a lot in general. I’m going out on a limb here and showing y’all some of my real writing.

You can judge it if you want or tell me how you feel about it, just know I’m happy doing it regardless. Take it easy.”

Here’s a short excerpt:

“There’s this flash I get off in
In a fever dream or vision of sorts
Most times late at night
And I haven’t found out why, but I know exactly why.

I’m on this road and I hear gravel underneath me and I feel it too
And I don’t know where I am, but I know exactly where I am.
It’s dark, it’s really dark
And the car is warm and somehow I can feel how cold the night is
I don’t know where the road leads, but I know exactly how it ends.

See I keep driving and all I see for the longest while is my headlights for an eternity it seems
And everything is desolate, and empty and hopeless.
I’m lost but I know where I’m going”

Feel a little lost after reading that?

Give it a listen, I promise by the end you won’t know what it means, but you’ll know exactly what it means…

Another tip of the cap, Zach. I mean… I’d buy a Zach Bryan poem book in a heartbeat.

A note from Zach:

“I took it down for a little bit because I was testing the waters and seeing how people reacted. Wasn’t teasing anyone either, but it took me a lot to post something that wasn’t music.

Just a disclaimer here, the home and the girl at the end is a metaphor for family, or an old friend, or something that took you a long time to find. The dark haired character was inspired by one of Kerouac’s characters, Terry Franco in ‘On The Road.’

It’s not about the person or the place but what she and it represents. A poem about going home, or going where you feel the most like yourself.”