A month after releasing his eponymous fourth album in 2023—which went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Rock, Folk, and Country charts—Zach Bryan shared another batch of songs on Boys of Faith. Featuring collaborations with Bon Iver and Noah Kahan, the five-track EP required Bryan to lock himself in a studio and get all the lyrics out into a notebook.
“Locked myself in a studio all week, wrote myself through a notebook,” wrote Bryan of the process on social media. “Walked around with people I love in the city then went camping, felt restful and hopeful, thankful for breathing no matter the day … them boys of faith.”
On Boys of Faith, Bon Iver joins Bryan on the more Americana-arched title track, while Noah Kahan helps tell the story of a former lover on the more midtempo “Sarah’s Place.”
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind Zach Bryan’s Beaming Ballad “Sun to Me”]
“Sarah’s Place”
Co-written by Bryan and Kahan, the wistful lyrics around “Sarah’s Place” partially mourn past relationship and express relief that a former partner is somewhere better now.
Road dogs are built for sleepin’ in
I’ve been up since 4 AM
At your worst, you’re better than my better days
There ain’t been no sun in LA
Since you moved out of Sarah’s place
I love your mother’s stories ’bout you as a kid
I heard you scored a job in the east village
While working for some folks who don’t know your name
Well, ain’t you gonna miss all of them wasted days?
We’d sit around, drinkin’ out at Sarah’s place
Don’t come back lover, I’m proud you’re under the skyline
We always knew you were the better half of our good times
Those backyard lights don’t shine as bright without your face
Out at Sarah’s Place
By the end of the song, they reconnect by phone as more of the nostalgia sets in—seeing his lover’s empty picnic chair still sitting in the yard.
And you called to talk just last week
I’m still fallin’ apart like I’ll always be
And your picnic chair is still sittin’ there in the yard
And I had to sell my old guitar
But don’t come back lover, I’m proud you’re under the skyline
We always knew you were the better half of our good times
Those backyard lights don’t shine as bright without your face
Out at Sarah’s Place
You’ll always be a piece of mine, a piece of mine
We drove that road we know at least a million times
I’m so damn tired of seeing that empty drive
Out at Sarah’s Place
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind Zach Bryan’s First Viral Hit “Heading South”]
Boys of Faith was another successful notch for Bryan, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard Rock and Folks charts, No. 3 on the Top Country Albums chart, and peaking at No. 8 on the 200.
Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images
