An Informative Essay on why Rest, Rose by Zach Bryan is the Best Song to Ever Exist

Hello everyone,

I would like to take this opportunity to write an informative (or maybe persuasive actually) essay on why the song “Rest, Rose” by Zach Bryan is the best song in the entire world as well as my absolute favorite song. I would also like to add that I am partially writing this as a means of procrastination on studying for my psychology test. But anyways, that is not important so let's begin.

Firstly, the intro to rest rose is a masterpiece in itself. It is only a guitar and a harmonica with the four most basic chords and only two notes on the harmonica, yet it's the most beautiful and simplistic intro ever. It is so peaceful and does an excellent job of somehow creating imagery without lyrics, only sounds. Everytime I listen to it I am taken to an open green pasture that goes on for miles and miles,filled with cutie horses grazing and a wooden fence, and the most beautiful sunrise that I haven’t even seen in person but yet exists in my mind. Many artists try to create a picture like this by including many different instruments and even adding nature sounds or something to their songs. While I will not disagree that this is a task that requires skill if done correctly, it requires even more skill to paint the same picture whilst only using a guitar and a harmonica. Aside from the instrumentals, the lyrics of rest rose are also a work of art. I like it picasso.

When I listen to Rest rose, sometimes I imagine it being sung to me, but other times I imagine myself singing it to someone else. I think this is part of what makes it so beautiful: how I can relate to both sides. The first line says, “you should really get some rest rose, you’ve been up all night.” I can see this being sung to me because I tend to overthink things at night. If something is wrong in my brain I cannot rest until it is resolved. If I’m going through something like that, I like listening to this song and imagining that someone is telling me to rest because they can tell I’ve been up all night worrying. But alas lol I never tell anyone I’m up all night so no one gets the opportunity to comfort me, so I rely on Zach to tell me lolol. But also on the other hand I can feel people’s pain when they’re struggling and not getting rest, and it brings me comfort to know that I can be someone’s anchor. It's not just that I feel bad for them, but it also brings me pain seeing them in unrest so I can also relate to telling someone to rest.

The next line says, “and I love the way your arms pose in window pane sunlight.” I’m going to be honest I don’t exactly know what this line means but of course I’ve already come up with my own meaning. When I hear this line I think of the shadow a girl’s arm makes against the curtains as the sunlight comes in through the window on a sunny day when she's sitting and looking out the window. Perhaps this line was written as an admiration of the delicacy of her arms and fingertips as she looked out the window. Or maybe she has really ugly arms lolol but the fact that she's looking out the window is beautiful enough. I feel like people who look out windows are usually deep people who have a lot on their minds and just enjoy the act of thinking while looking outside at God’s creation. So maybe he did enjoy the way her arms posed because she had pretty arms, or maybe he enjoyed the way her arms posed because of how deeply she thought of things and how she viewed the world.

The next line says, “Sweet girl I feel like quittin’ cause I’m tired of missin’ home, but the moments I am with you home begins to roam.” Looking at this song from Zach’s perspective is already very meaningful. He wrote this while he was active in the marines and away from home. His vulnerability and honesty in this line is admirable , and then it turns into a powerful and thoughtful description of home. But if I were to think about this line in terms of how it would relate to my own life it becomes more meaningful (although I usually say “sweet boy” instead of “sweet girl” because I’m not lesbian). Oftentimes I do feel like quitting because I miss home, even though I’m always “home.” Lol like I literally have two homes #divorced kid problems. But for some reason if I’m just exhausted or stressed or something, I literally say out loud “I want to go home” as I’m literally sitting in my own home. To me, home is a place of rest and relief and comfort. So it makes sense that if I’m under stress at home then I don’t feel like I’m at home since it isn’t restful to me. But then after Zach sings about missing home he sings, “but the moments I am with you home begins to roam.” This is literally so cute omg because he's saying that she is his home. And maybe not her but just the peaceful moments they spend together. Like even if they are under stress, he can be with her and have it all go away and be at rest in that moment, just like the rest a home is supposed to provide. So sometimes I may feel like quitting and be in search of rest and my home won't satisfy me because my true home aka my own version of Rose isn’t there. Yet if I could take my own version of Rose into a completely new and unfamiliar place I could feel at home.

The next line is, “and the northwest cold in the winter it’ll chill you to your core; I have never died Rose but I’ve seen heaven before.” LIKE HELLO. That is a whole lyrical masterpiece. Like imagine sitting there and somehow being able to have that lyric just come out of your mouth. Like again. Maybe heaven is her or maybe he’s just talking about the experiences they’ve had together, or maybe it's not even about her and maybe it's about seeing the glory of God through his creation aka glimpses of heaven. That’s another beautiful thing like it can mean something completely different to different people but still carry the same weight. Like heaven is the most beautiful and wonderful place that we can only get to after we die and he is saying that although he has never died he has witnessed and seen something that beautiful. Like ugh. I will never recover ever. Honestly I’m not sure why Zach commented on the climate of the Northwest, but maybe he just needed a word to rhyme with “before.” Or he could be saying Rose also chills him to the core because he also has a song called “shivers down spines” but who knows.

Then after the chorus he plays the instrumental again which is ugh beautiful stunning amazing. Then the first line of the second verse is, “I thought everyone who liked me was too old or dead.” And while I think many people like me, I don’t think many people understand me. And I don’t mean that in a like i'm nOt LiKe OtHEr GirLs way lol, like I think people understand why I do things. I just don’t think people understand how deeply I think or how deeply I analyze the Earf. Somehow old people understand that about me though, like my granny for example. She could just always tell when I was deep and thought and would ask, “what are you thinking about?” and no matter how random it was she always responded like she understood. Even when I used to visit nursing homes I felt an immediate connection with the residents there. But with people my age or even people my parents age, they just don’t understand my thinking processes. Kinda like the Bible verse that says, “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” I feel like I have to remind myself of this verse all the time because I feel like I am being looked down upon because people assume I think shallowly.

The next line says, “But you make my knees weak and my pale face red,” meaning that there is someone out there who isn’t too old or dead who is able to relate to me and how I see things without thinking I’m weird lol. He is also saying that someone has so great of an impact on him that it makes his knees weak and makes him blush. That must be someone who is as unique as him and thinks as deeply as him if not more. Also, I’m a ginger so my face is pale and it does get red quite often lolz.

The next line says, “red like a rose dear in the summer when they grow here.” Like HELLO OKAY SIMILE. That's a beautiful simile on it's own but the fact that he used a rose as a comparison because it's also her name. Like that fits so perfectly.

Then after that work of art of a simile he says, “and I’ve got no fear whichever way these days steer.” Which is a big thing to say because feeling away from home can be a very fearful feeling. So if he’s admitting that he doesn’t care what happens and that he’s at rest with all outcomes, then that truly means that he found his home.

Then he sings the chorus again and then sings this little bridge thing I guess that says, “and I know you’re tired babe, cause I’m tired too. So won’t you settle on down with someone just like you.” First of all, having someone acknowledge that they know you are tired is a comforting thing. He's also saying he knows she's tired because he's tired, and since she can feel his pain he knows that if he is tired then she must also be. Then he’s like aight well won't you go and settle with someone just like you because he recognizes that he’s moving around a lot and she is the type of person who likes consistent rest. But even though he loves her enough to let her be with someone who wants to settle down, homegirl isn’t going anywhere because daddy zach is her home and she would rather go through life with her home then have an easy life without someone to call home.

The only critique I have of this song is a major one actually, because Zach wrote this song about his wife, Rose, and then they got divorced. Emotional damage. Like this is the most beautiful song ever written and then YEET the original intended meaning of it has been stripped from the face of the universe. But it's fine I guess cause I enjoy it.

As a conclusion, I have realized that many people will not find this song as meaningful as me. And I hate to bring the enneagram into this, but alas my christian girl autumn side of me will not let me forget to mention that I am an enneagram 9, aka the “peacemaker,” meaning I long for internal and external peace in my life. So it makes sense that as an enneagram 9, a song about finding peace and rest and a sense of home in a person is my favorite song. Anyways, I think this concludes my ted talk and everyone should listen to the song now. Peace out girl scouts.