‘I’m on Neither of These Radical Sides’

In a week where Zach Bryan found himself once again at the top of the headlines, this time for a song that was perceived to be a critique of ICE raids and law enforcement, the Oklahoma songwriter is setting the record straight. His message? The United States is “devastatingly divided.”

Bryan took his Instagram Stories to post about the song “Bad News,” which he says is not a “new” song, but one he wrote “months ago.” Despite lyrics like “ICE is gonna come bust down your door/Try to build a house no one builds no more,” it doesn’t, according to Bryan, take one particular side in the great political debate.

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“When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back,” he wrote.

Bryan also explained that he posted the song snippet three months ago and that it’s really about his love for the U.S. and “everyone in it.”

“To see how much shit it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared. Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American,” he wrote. “To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides. To those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I’m trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes.”

In a subsequent message, Bryan addressed the microscope he’s been living under of late.

“The last few months of my life I’ve been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible,” he said. “Been falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time.”

A U.S. Navy veteran, Bryan closed by reiterating how proud he is to have served “in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxed or accosted on the internet or worse; the violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the last few months!”

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