Zach Bryan’s If She Wants a Cowboy: Actual Writin’

By Liv Foust

“Something in the Orange” propelled Zach Bryan into the spotlight of summer 2022. The stripped sound of acoustic guitar accompanied simple but relatable lyrics that resonated with an extremely wide audience. It was soft, caring and understanding in a way that popular country music had not been for some time. The sudden glare of the spotlight did not hinder Bryan from hitting the ground running with the release of his third studio album: American Heartbreak which became a massive success. At the time of writing this, “Something in the Orange” holds the record for the longest charting country song for a male artist with a total of 66 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 (Zellner 2023). In another, significantly longer essay, I will spew about how Zach Bryan quite literally saved modern country music through his use of traditional storytelling and the overall narrative of his lyrics. For now I am going to focus on the song that fits snugly into American Heartbreak, however upon second glance, reads like a parody.  American Heartbreak is an extensive 34 song album with a myriad of characters and stories told through Bryan’s excellent songwriting style and home-grown timbre. There are broken-hearted lovers, bull riders, grandmothers, husbands and friends residing between the lyrics of these songs. Among them is the narrator of “If She Wants a Cowboy,” whose role is more of a caricature. Bryan’s personal voice is strong and clear through the slight smile you can hear as he sings the story of a chart-topping “Bro-Country” cowboy. 

The track opens at a sweet walking pace with vocals that quickly grow in volume, ‘one, two, three four!’ We hear Zach’s speaking voice in this intro referencing the song itself, its first touch of irony: ‘Man, I got a song for y’all / Interestin’ / Actual writin’ / Something y’all ain't even heard of.’ The first time I listened to this intro I know exactly what he was referencing. I myself am I child of the post 9/11 surge of the ‘Bro-Country’ subgenera (Lamodi, 2021). I clung to country radio from 2012 onward, and am un-ironically a fan of most of the songs on there. I have sat with myself many times trying to get to the root of this debatable love for cliche and heavy production, and it all seems to boil down to nostalgia. While I am a sucker for a bad pop country song, I am known for my appreciation of the craftsmanship that goes into writing good lyrics. After sinking my teeth so deep into lyricists like Gregory Alan Isakov, Hozier etc, it feels so good to bask in the memories of tucks, beer and girls. Because - and he honest here, who doesn’t love those things? 2014 country radio flashed before my eyes as Bryan sang: ‘She wants a cowboy, so I just might / Find me some boots that fit me right / Chew some tobacco, ride me a bronco / On a southern Saturday night.’ Bryan is referencing the small-town facade make chart-topping country artists portray. His demanding tone is a metaphor for celebrity, backed by the funds of a record deal and the high of a festival headline. The impending consequences of a 360 deal haven’t quite hit our narrator, who is knee deep in boxes at the Los Angeles Boot Barn. By referencing themes often explored in modern pop-country songs such as horses, boots and southern Saturday nights, it is clear that Bryan is playing the character of a wannabe cowboy country singer. One that has ‘Never rode a horse / Or worn a cowboy hat.’ Not to worry though, your record label will slap a buckle and a Stetson on you and ‘They won’t know any of that.’

Bryan goes on to mention that our narrator travels to some small towns in an act of field research, trying to get sone advice on his sound. It is clear that the locals are not interested in the presence of such Hollywood, and our narrator is curious as to why ‘They wanna fight.’ We discover there is much he doesn’t know as he details his efforts to learn how to two-step. Our narrator tires to wrangle up the love interest of our story, a lady who is a metaphor for the listeners of country music. As he works for her attention, she becomes less and less interested in the persona he emanates. Rather, she is suddenly interested in the Nashville sound. The Music City is a staple in the world if country music. It is the home to some of Americas biggest music recording and production studios. This includes Historic RCA Studio B “Home of 1000 hits” (Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, n.d.). The Broadway strip is home to those 2014 country radio superstars I know and love. Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan all have bars stood kitty-corner to each other as gaggles of bachelorette parties pump through the veins of the streets. The ground is sticky and no one, I mean no one, is from Tennessee. The reputation that Nashville has in the world of country music is engrained in the culture that radio pop-country exudes. Everyone wants to be a cowboy for a weekend, but Hank is “too slow and boring.” In “If She Wants a Cowboy” Zach Bryan uses Nashville as a metaphor for modern pop-country as a whole. He digs his heel into this idea as he sings the following with a layer of obvious vocal autotune: “If she wants Nashville, I’ll Nashville the best.” Hearing the addition of intentional excessive autotune put the biggest smile on my face the first time I heard this song. It made me giggle because I myself am guilty of the pop-country pleasure. I was excited by Bryans bravery to release such a song, I admired how much pride and respect he has for his art. Using autotune over the word “Nashville” was such a simple touch, yet spoke to the difference between the real, authentic storytellers that country music is home to, and those who have gone Hollywood on the charts. 

Right before the final chorus Bryan says: “Man, I never heard a song this good.” To this day I am still unsure the tone of this lyric. I am torn between interpreting it as irony, or a genuine comment. My initial reaction was to take it seriously, and I continue to do this as I listen today. However, it would also make a great deal of sense for it to be ironic, given the rest of the song is just that. Bryan sings the chorus one last time before finishing with a spoken portion, telling his band he’s “Leaving for the day / Throw it on he damn radio!” The character continues to not care about his craft as he demands for the song to be produced and sent to radio as soon as possible - whatever it takes to start making money. 

“If She Wants a Cowboy” is easily my personal favourite off of American Heartbreak, and quite possibly my favourite song from Zach Bryan’s discography. While I am an enjoyer of the very subgenera of music and human that Bryan is pocking fun at, I believe he is right. Country music is a genre with an incredibly rich history, that predates the nationalist, white, “Bro-Country” radio aesthetic. Before charts mattered as much as they do today, the genre was widely authentic, historical and meaningful (The Library of Congress, 2015). I think its important to recognise the artists that came before our personal practices, as new art cannot exist devoid of inspiration. At the time of writing this, singer of chart-topping pop-country song “Fancy Like” Walker Hayes has found himself in the crossfire of Zach Bryan and his dislike of country radio. On Twitter, Bryan is quoted in a now deleted Tweet saying: “Imagine being radio (whoever the hell that is), hearing “Shake the Frost” and being like ‘no no let’s go with the Applebees song” (Bryan [@zachlanebryan] n.d.). Hayes has now gone on to release and equally as awful song that deserves zero of my air time in response to this tweet. Bryan then responded by posting a screenshot of “If She Wants a Cowboy.”

Zellner, X. (2023). Every Country Music Record Broken on the Hot 100 in 2023: From Morgan Wallen to Oliver Anthony Music & More. [online] Billboard. Available at: https://www.billboard.com/lists/country-music-records-hot-100-morgan-wallen-oliver-anthony/first-time-the-top-three-spots-of-the-hot-100-were-country-songs/.

Lamodi, S. (n.d.). The Country Corpora: An Analysis of Country Music Before and After 9/11 – Literature and Digital Diversity. [online] Available at: https://litdigitaldiversity.northeastern.edu/the-country-corpora/.

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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. (n.d.). Studio B. [online] Available at: https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/experiences/studio-b#:~:text=The%20songs%20recorded%20inside%20Historic [Accessed 27 Jan. 2024].

The Library of Congress. (2015). Country  | Popular Songs of the Day  | Musical Styles  | Articles and Essays  | The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America  | Digital Collections  | Library of Congress. [online] Available at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/musical-styles/popular-songs-of-the-day/country/.

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