I know that every Zach Bryan song is incredible, and everyone has their own tastes when it comes to his music.
So, it’s pretty difficult to say any song is underrated or the best honestly.
But I am going to say both of those things anyway about “Half Grown” because not enough people are talking about how heart-wrenching it is.
It’s up there with “A Lover’s Point of View” and “A Boy Like You” as one of the saddest sort of love songs that’s he’s ever put out.
I’ll admit this song is for all the folks who have mommy and daddy issues. All of us who didn’t grow up with both parents present or our parents weren’t in a loving relationship.
Zach Bryan uses his signature poetics to tell not just the story of two people who have had toxic parents trying to be together but also the story of having to heal, forgive, and move on from that past toxicity.
He so eloquently states what having a toxic parent can do to someone:
“Sometimes a woman is the sum of all things her father ain’t
And men are just the some of all the things their mother did . . .”
What Bryan is a master at is showing hope in every situation, and the chorus is the perfect embodiment of that:
“You can’t choose your blood
But you can choose to change the chains that chained you down
When you was just a child
And forgiveness ain’t an easy road to go
But I know that it’s a road worth headin’ down . . .”
Despite the singer saying to this other person that right now isn’t a good time to start a family, right now his vices are still overtaking him, hope isn’t lost for him or this relationship.
Maybe you can’t change your past or the toxic relationships you’ve had, but you can choose to forgive those who have hurt you because in the end those chains are holding you down.
They’re not holding those other people.
The second verse inspires even more hope in the listener for not only the relationship but also the singer himself.
The singer sees himself in this other person, so he knows what she’s been through.
And by this second verse, the singer has decided that he is able to raise a family in order to right the wrongs he experienced:
“But I’ll raise a family and right the wrong
Of some imperfect people who were only half-grown . . .”
I absolutely adore this song because it makes me sad, but it also boldly claims that while our trauma defines parts of us it doesn’t define all of us.
And we are all capable of growing past our trauma.
