Zach Bryan is a man of his word. The Oklahoma-born, Philadelphia-based artist told fans that if The Eagles beat The Giants in the NFL playoffs, he’d release his new song “Dawns,” and he made good on his promise. After the team came out on top, he dropped the song on Friday, and it has since climbed into the Top 5 on the Genius Top Songs chart.
“Dawns” features singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, who also co-wrote the track with Bryan. The track, produced by Bryan and Eddie Spear, marks the pair’s first time linking up together. Lyrically, “Dawns” is about the cost of a love that has come to a heartbreaking end. Bryan takes the first verse and laments the time he spent on the doomed relationship.
Wake me up when the season’s gone
‘Cause I’ve wasted all my dawns on you
So what do I do?
Despite everything it’s taken from him, Bryan can’t seem to let go of love on the second verse.
I get fucked up just ’cause I’m scared
Love’s just another drug I have grown a victim to
Rogers joins Bryan on the third verse, where she feels just as cheated by the relationship’s bitter end.
I’m on your front porch beggin’ for my dawns back
Give my goddamn records and my clothes back
On the pre-chorus, things take an even darker turn. Bryan is so heartbroken that he feels closer than ever to his mother, who died in 2016.
And by the time she wakes
I’ll be halfway to my mama’s home
Bryan and Rogers long for the fresh start that comes with every new dawn on the chorus.
Give me my dawns back
Everything that dies makes its way back
I lost her last July in a heart attack
I need one small victory (Mm)
“Dawns” arrived alongside an official music video featuring a lot of new Zach Bryan concert footage.
You can read all the lyrics to “Dawns” on Genius now.
