Being at war with Gavin Adcock was one thing. But to be warred upon by some of his own fans is another. And so Zach Bryan has clarified, somewhat, his intentions with a song snippet he posted on social media that contained a line about ICE, saying that “when you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle.”
Bryan’s attempt to tell his followers that he was not making a partisan political statement with the song comes in the wake of a deluge of “fans” posting that they are now ready to cancel the singer-songwriter. Many have posted that they are even ready to “Dixie Chick” him, which would amount to not just abandoning him but working to ruin his career. Even the White House and the Department of Homeland Security weighed in Tuesday on the partial tune.
“To see how much shit it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared,” wrote the Navy veteran, who has claimed in the past that he does not stand on either side of the political divide, and is trying to reiterate that now in the face of a firestorm. “Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American. To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides,” he said.
The brouhaha started over when an audio snippet of a verse of an unnamed song began to be recirculated, in both electric and acoustic versions. Not all of the lyrics were completely legible, nor was it clear if the song was meant to be from Bryan’s point of view or one of his character-driven songs. What was clear, though, was that it included the line “ICE is gonna come bust down your door,” and was captioned “the fading of the red, white and blue” — lines that deeply upset many on the right, who weren’t about to wait to hear the full tune before weighing in with outrage.
Bryan posted his first message with the header: “Pls fuckn read this””
“I wrote this song months ago,” he began. “I posted this song three months ago as a snippet. This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media. This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything. 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 continued, “I served this country, I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou asshole, just a 29-year-old man who is as confused as everyone else. 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. To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides. To all 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.”
He concluded this first message on a sunny note: “Everyone have a great day and I love each and every one of ya!!!”
In a followup post on his Instagram Stories, Bryan added: “The last few months of my life I’ve been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible. I feel like I’ve tried my hardest in so many ways and it’s so hard to see where my bearings even are anymore. Been falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time.
“I am SO proud 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!” he concluded. “God speed ol sons, I’m out!”
(His reference to having received other scrutiny over the past few months likely refers to his feud with country singer Adcock. Video was shown of Bryan climbing a fence at a music festival they both were attending to try to get at Adcock and being held back by security guards.)
The furor over the lyrics prompted Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary of public affairs Tricia McLaughlin to issue a statement telling Bryan off: “Stick to ‘Pink Skies,’” she said, referring to a hit ballad about family members gathering for a funeral.
Later, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson took Bryan on with a social post that mashed up a half-dozen of his song titles: “While Zach Bryan wants to Open the Gates to criminal illegal aliens and has Condemned heroic ICE officers, Something in the Orange tells me a majority of Americans disagree with him and support President Trump’s great American Revival. Godspeed, Zach!”
Bryan is said to have a new album in the works that will presumably include the new song in full, but no release date has been announced.
In the past, while trumpeting his nonpartisan bona fides, the singer did praise President Donald J. Trump, after last fall’s assassination attempt on the campaign trail. “I don’t support Trump or Biden,” Bryan said in an Instagram video post, “but the man got shot in the ear, head, whatever you guys want to call it. And then: fist bump in the air! That is sick, dude!”
A typical response to Bryan’s new song snippet came from the MAGA commentator self-described as “Catturd,” who posted that that the song was a “desperate Hail Mary” from Bryan, whose “non-career is in the toilet.”
Bryan has sold the equivalent of 30 million units in the U.S. alone, according to the RIAA, has amassed more than 16 billion Spotify streams, and set a record for the largest ticketed concert in U.S. history last month, drawing more than 112,000 fans to Michigan Stadium.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com ’
