This September, popular country singer Zach Bryan released an EP entitled Boys of Faith. This project came as a surprise as Bryan had just released his fourth studio album, the self-titled Zach Bryan not even a month prior. As a long-time listener of Zach Bryan and consistent listener, I was sure the EP wouldn’t disappoint, and after several listens through, it has grown to be some of my favorite of Bryan’s work.
The EP contains five songs: “Nine Ball,” “Sarah’s Place,” the title track- “Boys of Faith,” “Deep Satin,” and “Pain, Sweet, Pain.”
“Nine Ball depicts Bryan’s father who is as he describes it “a betting man,” saying that “He’ll probably be nothing/but this town’s old drunkard/and die on a smoke-stained stool.”
Throughout the song, Bryan illustrates the shaky relationship between him and his father and the issues that arise from his father’s gambling habits.
“Sarah’s Place” is a bittersweet address to a long-distance romance.
Bryan reminisces on a time when the couple lived together as she has since moved out, leaving Bryan without her at “Sarah’s Place.”
In verse 3 Bryan sings “And you called to talk last week/I’m still fallin apart like I’ll always be/And your picnic chair is just sittin’ there/And I had to sell my old guitar;” It is implied that Bryan decides to go visit her at the end of the song when he says “Plane tickets have gotten awfully expensive/But I got mine for the price of a Gibson.”
In the title track “Boys of Faith,” Bryan underlines his appreciation for a group of boys he grew up with and their consistent faith in him throughout his come-up.
This is exemplified when he says “But you stuck around when I was down/And I’ll owe you all my days/Them boys of faith.”
In “Deep Satin” Bryan depicts a time when he was wandering aimlessly around Manhattan and feeling homesick.
Manhattan, we learn, is the hometown of a past lover, and now that they are no longer together, he feels like a stranger in her hometown, “But you in Manhattan rollin’ in deep satin/Was a painful and wonderful drug.”
In the final track “Pain, Sweet, Pain,” Bryan comments on self-inflicted pain and feelings of worthlessness.
He says “I’ve been pining and pining for so long/Thinking it’s about time someone else is wrong.” However he goes on to set a tone of hopefulness and finding the strength to overcome his problems: “You’re so tired, but the top is not/Keep on goin’ and you’ll soon arrive.”
Through “Boys of Faith,” Bryan artfully expresses feelings of homesickness, longing, and love lost.
