Zach Bryan broke unlikely ground in 2022 when his album American Heartbreak topped not just Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Its broad appeal catapulted Bryan's big-label debut for Warner Records to the pinnacle of the US Folk Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. More impressively, the instant streaming juggernaut debuted at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
This overnight surge in interest pointed more ears to the social media sensation and previously-independent underdog's signature song, No. 1 country hit "Something in the Orange."
The Grammy-nominated (Best Country Solo Performance) smash made an impact upon its April 2022 release as a single. Its legend grew the following month when a rawer revision, "Something in the Orange— Z&E's Version," appeared on Bryan's 34-song introduction to the mainstream. Ultimately, Bryan's surprise megahit topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and peaked at a beyond-respectable No. 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
On the album version, the raw emotion in Bryan's vocals —plus less-is-more acoustic accompaniment that's flavored by Dylanesque harmonica riffs— makes for vibes that might as well be from a different planet than anything by Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, fellow breakout star Bailey Zimmerman and the handful of others in country music that orbit the same streaming stratosphere as Bryan. Indeed, though Bryan's working within the big-label system, his songs lack radio backing and hardly mirror the Nashville sound of the moment. Basically, he's Nirvana sans "voice of a generation" pressures, thriving in a business designed to cater to Guns N' Roses.
An Oklahoma native, Bryan doesn't grant many interviews, so there's not a lot of first-person insight about the song's inspiration. The meaning of it and other Spotify smashes by the singer-songwriter aren't exactly cryptic, though. Orange represents the setting sun for someone on the wrong end of a breakup as our narrator tries to cope with the inevitable end of a crucial chapter in their life. Visuals in its music video further drive home the obvious.
As a great country song should, it tells a specific story while touching on a universal theme that, unfortunately, speaks to a lot of listeners' own experiences.
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"Something in the Orange" Lyrics
It'll be fine by dusk light I'm telling you, baby
These things eat at your bones and drive your young mind crazy
But when you place your head between my collar and jaw
I don't know much but there's no weight at all
And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
'Cause if I say I miss you I know that you won't
But I miss you in the mornings when I see the sun
Something in the orange tells me we're not done
To you I'm just a man, to me you're all I am
Where the hell am I supposed to go?
I poisoned myself again
Something in the orange tells me you're never comin' home
I need to hear you say you've been waitin' all night
There's orange dancing in your eyes from bulb light
Your voice only trembles when you try to speak
Take me back to us dancing, this wood used to creak
To you I'm just a man, to me you're all I am
Where the hell am I supposed to go?
I poisoned myself again
Something in the orange tells me you're never coming home
To you I'm just a man, to me you're all I am
Where the hell am I supposed to go?
I poisoned myself again
Something in the orange tells me you're never comin' home
If you leave today, I'll just stare at the way
The orange touches all things around
The grass, trees and dew, how I just hate you
Please turn those headlights around
Please turn those headlights around
