Hard to believe it’s been two years already.
On a day that saw a brand-new release from Zach Bryan due to the Philadelphia Eagles’ historic NFC Championship win over the Washington Commanders, the “Heading South” singer is celebrating the two-year anniversary of another release due to an Eagles playoff win, “Dawns.”
For those unaware, Bryan teased the track all the way back on November 14, 2022, on TikTok when he shared a video of him playing a rough version of the first two verses on the piano and guitar.
The post quickly blew up on social media, garnering over 3.2 million views, 515,000 likes and 47,000 saves as of writing. This prompted fans to beg for its release with some of the comments saying, “release it father,” “Mr. Bryan I’m gonna need this asap” and even the Denver Nuggets’ official account saying “Babe wake up. Zach Bryan posted a banger.”
Like most Zach Bryan teasers, the track stayed at the forefront of many listeners’ minds for the following months.
Fans clamored for the song so much, in fact, that on Jan. 17, the “I Remember Everything” singer took to X to say that he would release “Dawns” on one condition: If the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional Round playoff game.
In an unavilable post due to his deactivated X account, Bryan said, “if the eagles beat the giants I’ll release dawns.”
The heavily favored Eagles proceeded to manhandle the Giants 38-7 four days later, prompting an official announcement for “Dawns”‘ release, as well as a thank you post to the Philadelphia football team: “Dawns will now be released at midnight on the 27th, thanks for pulling through boys.”
The now RIAA-certified platinum track dropped five days after that tweet. What fans didn’t expect, however, was the fact that budding alternative star, Maggie Rogers, would be included in the song.
While “Dawns” might not be considered to many as traditionally country, it is undoubtedly one of his best songs to date. The track exists as a unique blend of country, folk and alternative, continuing Bryan’s experimenting between genres.
Written by both Bryan and Rogers, the track provides two unique perspectives on the central failed relationship. These perspectives can be seen most clearly in the two unique choruses helmed by Bryan and then Rogers.
“And by the time she wakes, I’ll be halfway to my mama’s home
It just dawned on me, life is as fleeting as the passin’ dawn
And it was my mistake ’cause she never said a thing about Jesus
I miss my mother’s southern drawl and her prayin’ through the walls in the evenin’“
“And by the time he wakes, I’ll be halfway to my best friend’s home
It just dawned on me, life is as fleeting as the passin’ dawn
And I shoulda told him twice, I believe in something bigger than both of us
I miss goin’ out to bars, shootin’ stars, not worryin’ ’bout what’s left of us“
This key perspective-switch begs the listener to ask the question, “Who was in the wrong?” It’s one of those songs that truly doesn’t have a definitive answer, and that’s the ultimate beauty of it.
“Dawns” leaves the interpretation up to the listener, almost begging you to take a side. Bryan makes his case in the first verse and chorus by saying that he relies on his vices to cope with the broken relationship, citing that she “never said a thing about Jesus.”
Rogers, however, flips this narrative in her chorus, citing that she believes in “something bigger than both of us” and misses “not worrying ’bout what’s left of us.”
This results in a beautifully complicated song depicting a broken relationship where the narrative doesn’t truly add up. However, that’s exactly the point of it. It’s two biased perspectives of a relationship clashing together to form one, incredibly poignant song.
Listen to it here: