One of my favorite things to do is to pull up Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak on Spotify and hit shuffle to see what song comes up.
Even though the album came out in May, I still feel like I haven’t really heard all 34 songs. I have… but in some way, I am still always discovering something new.
That’s how I finally actually heard and looked up the lyrics for “Morning Time,” and now, I can’t stop thinking about it.
Zach Bryan music is ripe with opportunities to overanalyze his lyrics. This song, especially, is one giant metaphor that I had way too much fun dissecting.
Each verse begins with the singer comparing this person in the morning time to various good feelings the morning gives him:
“You in the morning timе
Reminds me of a simpler time
Cutting grass for cash and gasoline
To prove I’m worth your touch and time”
But as with most Zach Bryan love songs, there is self-loathing that is so entwined and deeply rooted that somehow this person is being pushed away.
The singer is the contrast of this person who is light, and he can only love her in the darkness. This could be because he’s worn out and has already lost another love that he believes should’ve stayed, so there is insecurity and disbelief that she won’t do the same.
The chorus gives us the most insight into the relationship, showing how much the singer is struggling with this person’s light. He can love her in his darkness, but he doesn’t trust the morning light:
“Cause when you go down hard
You come up swinging
I fucking hate love
But I love you in the evenings
I swore you’d be here
When I finally woke
I love you in the evеnings
But I fucking hate high hopes”
The last four lines are what complicate the feelings the most. The singer swears that she’d be there when he finally woke from his darkness and was able to exist in the light with her, but the fact that he hates high hopes makes us question whether she was there.
One thing that Zach Bryan does so insanely well in his music is add a sense of hope no matter how sad or self-loathing or depressing the song is.
And the last verse of this song really cements that message of someone being able to light up your life or at least be there with you long enough for you to accept that light exists.
The last verse allows us to see that the singer did make it through the metaphorical night with this person and will be alright.