Zach Bryan’s “Tourniquet” and the Marlon Brando Classic That Inspired It

Zach Bryan might’ve claimed there was “no riddle in reasoning” behind the songs on his 2023 eponymous album, but there seem to be some clear connections between a Marlon Brando classic film and the twelfth track on the record, “Tourniquet.”

While Bryan kept any real-life inspiration behind the song’s intended subject and narrator opaque, the song’s central theme seems to be helping someone suffering from poor mental health.

A subtle sample from A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams’ play-turned-movie about mental health and toxic relationships, seems to hammer this point home.

The Marlon Brando Classic That Inspired “Tourniquet”

Zach Bryan’s “Tourniquet” opens with the narrator describing the distance between themselves and the song’s subject. There’s delays on the planes out of Eastern Montana where you told me you were leavin’ from, Bryan begins. You’ve been stabbed in the back and the rest of your body; won’t you tell me where you’re bleedin’ from?

The following lines bring in the song’s title, drawing a clear connection between a tourniquet meant to stop physical bleeding and the emotional bleeding the narrator hopes to stop with companionship. If you need a tourniquet or if you wanna turn and quit, know that I’ll be by your side. He continues this idea of mental support in the chorus: I bandage up your body and your bones and your bad days, too.

In the interlude between the first chorus and second verse, Bryan includes a soundbite from the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire, which stars Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter. The audio is of Hunter, who plays Stella, pointing out her problematic husband, Stanley, to her sister, Blanche, played by Leigh. Tennessee Williams’ play (and the subsequent film) follows Blanche, a woman with a sordid past and complicated mental health issues, as she clashes with Stella and the abusive, brutish Stanley.

Could The Country Star Be Referring To Himself?

While “Tourniquet” is clearly a testament to someone’s willingness to stay by someone’s side through rough times, it’s unclear to whom, exactly, the narrator—in this case, Zach Bryan—is speaking. Following the Streetcar soundbite, Bryan sings in the second verse: You’ve been playin’ your guitar from arenas to the bars since you were old enough to rhyme a word. But your face is gettin’ thinner and you’re prayin’ for the winter, and I heard you f***ed it up with her.

This verse seemingly shifts the focus to a songwriter recovering from a relationship ending, which could have something to do with Bryan’s divorce from Rose Madden in 2021. Rumors about Bryan’s potential infidelity have long followed the couple’s otherwise private split. Considering Streetcar’s Stanley Kowalski eventually devolves into the worst of his aggressions, one wonders if Bryan—who even favors Brando in a way, particularly on his album cover—is trying to compare himself to the divisive character.

Or, perhaps Bryan is drawing on a different part of the film altogether when Blanche’s final lines assert she has “always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Streetcar is an ironic tragedy that highlights how cultural differences and apathy can tear relationships apart in violent, traumatic ways. Given the empathetic approach to “Tourniquet,” his decision to include a clip from Streetcar could be a clue that his song is actually an antithesis to the film.

It’s also possible that Bryan was telling the truth when he said there was no “riddle in reasoning” to his eponymous release’s songs, and “Tourniquet” is truly an amalgamation of many inspirations. But whatever or whomever his muse might’ve been, the sheer power of the emotional track is undeniable, with many fans claiming it is one of his best songs yet. 

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