Zach Bryan's Song Analysis: Something In The Orange

Austin Huvane

Professor McGunnigle

ENGL 1202

24 February 2023

Zach Bryan: An Emotional Analysis

“It will be fine by dusk light, I’m telling you, baby” (Bryan 0:33). This is how Zach Bryan starts off his hit song, “Something in the Orange”. Zach Bryan is a Navy veteran who served for seven years. Through his style and lyrics, it is evident that Bryan is from the West. He was born on a Navy base in Okinawa, Japan, but lived most of his life in Oklahoma. It is evident through his songs that he is very proud of his past. Throughout many of his songs, he is deeply focused on relationships and connecting that with the world around him. In Zach Bryan’s songs “Something in the Orange” and “November Air”, nature is used to depict his emotion. “Something

In “Something in the Orange”, the color orange is constantly repeated. He states “I miss you in the mornings when I see the sun, Something in the orange tells me we’re not done” (1:15). He is reminded of this lost and hopeless feeling he has when he sees orange in the sky. It is repeated, signifying that the color orange makes him feel hopeless. The orange is significant of a negative feeling he has about the past relationship. He is still hopeful that one day she will return to him, and the orange he sees reminds him of that feeling. Further, he states “Something in the orange tells me you’re never coming home” (2:57). He is unable to escape the feeling he has when he sees the orange. The orange is significant for the sun rising in the morning or setting in the afternoon. Since this line comes at the end of the song, it appears that he has realized that she is not coming back to him, and he is going to have to live with that feeling. In contrast to this, “November Air” is trying to portray a good feeling of the past and a bittersweet remembrance of all that was. Bryan longs for the past and reflects on memories with his mother throughout the song. His mother died when he was 20 and he dedicated this song to her. He thought very highly of his mother and misses her very much. He states “Dear mama, if I could hold you, I’d grab you by the arms and tell you what it means” (2:07). He is enamored with his mother. She means the world to him and he is sad that he cannot tell her how much she meant to him. He is sad at the fact that she cannot see what he made of himself. She is not there to see the greatness he has created. He sings, “All you ever wanted / Was to see your children fly” (1:15). His mother was hopeful that her children would make something for