by Amanda London· Published August 31, 2023· Updated August 31, 2023

“Tourniquet” is a song that Zach Bryan first teased back in February of 2023. It was eventually dropped on 25 August 2023. It was released as one of the tracks featured on Zach’s fourth studio album, which itself is titled Zach Bryan. 

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Zach, being a multi-talented phenomenon (i.e. a member of the US Navy who successfully transitioned into a music career), also wrote and produced this song himself.

To note, the interlude of the track reportedly samples a snippet from the classic Marlon Brando flick A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

The Lyrics of “Tourniquet”

A tourniquet is the type of first aid device you may see in a movie or TV show for instance that is used to instantly stop the bleeding when an extremity is injured. 

In the case of this song, the vocalist is metaphorically offering himself as a tourniquet to the addressee. 

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That is to say that the lyrics don’t come off as if the latter is physically wounded. Rather, he or she has gone through some type of harrowing emotional ordeal. Or one can say that they have been effectively “stabbed in the back”, as stated in the first verse. 

Owing to this predicament, they are reeling spiritually if you will. It is at this point that Zach comes to their aid. In doing so, he is basically offering himself as a steady shoulder to cry on and a friend to see them through.

Who is the addressee of the second verse?

The second verse, though soundly fitting into that narrative, is a bit more difficult to understand in terms of pinning down whom the addressee may be. It is theoretically possible that Zach is singing to more than one person in this passage. If not and the addressee is one single individual, then all things considered, the verse implies that she’s a bisexual romantic interest who is also a professional musician. 

But another possible theory is this all being a soliloquy, i.e. Zach singing to himself.

“I bandage up your body and your bones and your bad days too
Take care of the blood that your love runs through
I know all the damage that some days in this dark world does
She were laughin’ last evenin’ at somethin’ I dreamed of”