Zach Bryan’s “anti-ICE” song is finally here.
The country music superstar released his sixth studio album, With Heaven On Top, earlier today, and it’s already making headlines. For one, many fans are noticing the Bruce Springsteen-inspired sound on much of the project, while others are talking about how produced this album sounds compared to Bryan’s past releases (Zach went ahead and announced an acoustic version of the album for those ready to complain).
And though there’s plenty of songs that are worthy of discussion in the track list (“Skin” seems to be a straight shot at his ex-girlfriend, Brianna Chickenfry), the one that many were waiting to hear in full was Bryan’s politically charged “Bad News.”
It was early in October when the country singer first shared a snippet of the song, and as you might imagine, the buzz around the song shot to the stratosphere. Now that it’s finally here, I thought it’d be appropriate to really break down the lyrics of the track that even got the attention of the Department of Homeland Security when it was initially teased.
The first verse doesn’t necessarily touch on anything too political, though it does throw out a line about the police being “cocky mother*******,” which could be a reference to Bryan’s personal run in with the authorities in September of 2023. It could also just could be a shot at law enforcement in general:
“Didn’t wake up dead or in jail
Some out of town boys been giving us hell
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you
My friends are all degenerates but they’re all I got
The generational story of dropping the plot
I heard the cops came
Cocky mother******* ain’t they?”
However, once the song gets to its second verse, it dives into the political side of things. Right off the bat, Bryan takes aim at the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). And towards the end of the verse, the country star reveals that the “Bad News” he’s singing about is the “fading of the red, white and blue.” He also seems to lament that Bruce Springsteen, who is famously anti-Trump, has lost some fans recently:
“And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door
Try to build a house no one builds no more
But I got a telephone
Kids are all scared and all alone
The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling
The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing
I got some bad news
The fading of the red, white and blue”
Obviously, that line about the “Immigration and Customs Enforcement” is timely, considering there’s much debate about how ICE handled a tense situation in Minneapolis, Minnesota early in January. Bryan couldn’t have ever guessed that his song – which he wrote months ago – questioning the organization would drop at such a charged time in the political climate.
When “Bad News” gets to it’s chorus, it keeps things concise and inquisitive. It first harkens to the 1951 song by Woody Guthrie that everyone is familiar with: “This Land Is Your Land.” I’d argue that it’s an interesting juxtaposition. While that old, classic, patriotic song paints a more hopeful depiction of the United States, Zach’s song asks if the country we are living in is really as bad as it’s portrayed on the news:
“This land’s your land
This land mine too
Is this all true, man?
Or is it just bad news?”
I also have to point out that the song’s sound and speed doesn’t necessarily match the somber tone the lyrics give off. That could be intentional, since Bryan is asking if it’s “all true” or if it’s “just bad news?” The rhythm of the song could represent an unwillingness to accept or be numb to with the current state of the world.
In the verse following the chorus, Zach Bryan does take aim at the other side of the aisle (as he said he would when he defended the song during it’s initial backlash). There’s a quick line at the beginning that accuses the right of “turning red” and the left being “woke.” Then another portion brings attention to the overwhelming bad news that comes through our televisions, as Bryan says that every day he turns on the news, there’s news about gun violence:
“Well, he said, she said, mirrors and smoke
Right’s turned red and the left’s all woke
Got some bad news
I woke up missing you
My friends are all degenerates, they’re all I got
Every day on the news, someone else is shot
I got some bad news
The fading of the red, white and blue
I served eight years just to be told
That nobody cares and land’s all sold
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you.”
All in all, I think “Bad News” can best be described as Zach Bryan’s general lament on the state of the world. Though I’m sure some will listen and take issue with certain portions, I’d say the 29-year-old artist does a decent job of touching on the feeling of hopelessness that some feel, and the overwhelming divisiveness of the United States of America. It’s not a rallying cry by any means. Zach seems to just be holding a mirror up to society, and capturing this moment in time through his music.
And at the end of the day, isn’t that one of the critical roles of art?
“Bad News” by Zach Bryan
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