The fallout from Zach Bryan and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia’s messy breakup is still making a splash over a year later. On Jan. 9, Bryan released With Heaven On Top, his first album since the highly-publicized split. In between several odes to his new wife Samantha Leonard, the country singer also included quite a few scathing lyrics that definitely seem to be directed at LaPaglia.
The most vicious track is “Skin,” in which Bryan sings about (literally) cutting off an ex:
I’m taking a blade to my old tattoos / I’m draining the blood between me and you / I’m taking a blade to my own skin/ And I ain’t never touching yours again
The refrain seems to be a reference to the tattoo he got of LaPaglia during their relationship. It could also be a nod to LaPaglia’s “How lucky are we” tattoo, which Bryan referenced in his love song “28.” After the breakup, LaPaglia revealed that she would not be removing the tattoo, despite how contentious things got.
Later in the song, Bryan poses some pointed questions to his ex, including “Do you love people just to win when it’s over?,” and “Do you still talk sh*t on all your friends?” These may be digs at LaPaglia’s reputation for spilling personal details about her life on social media and podcasts.
“Skin” isn’t the only song that appears to take a jab at LaPaglia. Bryan seems to call his ex “evil” in the song “Plastic Cigarette,” in which he sings: “My brother had told me to leave but I didn’t believe the evil beneath some people you meet out in Queens.”
Bryan and LaPaglia first met and began dating in Queens, New York, after LaPaglia attended his 2023 concert at Forest Hills Stadium.
And then there’s the song “Slicked Back,” in which it really sounds like Bryan is contrasting his new wife’s offline peacefulness to LaPaglia’s logged-on lifestyle. “Used to know some folks who put it all online but you paint landscapes in the evening time,” the country singer croons.
