Album: Country Stuff the Album (2021)
Charted: 28
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Songfacts®:

  • Like Walker Hayes' viral hit "Fancy Like," this song combines an infectious production with lyrics about everyday life in the south. However, rather than singing about dining out at Applebee's, the father of six gets more personal.

    He sings of parental anxieties:

    And I'm just tryna keep my daughters off the pole
    And my sons out of jail


    Insecurities:

    I'm just tryna keep my wife from figuring out
    That I married up and she married way, way down


    And his struggles with sobriety:

    Hey, I'm just tryna stay out of AA
  • Hayes wrote the song with the track's co-producer, Shane McAnally, and with Luke Laird. McAnally also co-produced "Fancy Like."
  • Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international self-help organization for those fighting the "battle of the bottle." Founded by ex-alcoholics Bill Wilson and Bob Smith in the 1930s, it features a 12-step program, outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction. Other songs inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous and its 12-step program include:

    "The Shattered Fortress" by Dream Theater. Drummer Mike Portnoy's "Twelve-step Suite" (also known as the "Alcoholics Anonymous Suite") is a series of five songs dealing with his struggles with alcoholism. They conclude with "The Shattered Fortress," which includes parts of all the previous tracks in the saga.

    "Fountain And Fairfax" by The Afghan Whigs. The title is an intersection in LA where Alcoholics Anonymous meetings take place at a church.

    "Higher Power" by Boston. The "Higher Power" is a concept in Alcoholics Anonymous in which members admit they need help from God or a "higher power" to overcome their addiction.

    "Blind Man" by Aerosmith. The song was inspired by lead singer Steven Tyler's recovery from alcoholism and his experience with AA.
  • Part of the inspiration for this song was Hayes' near-relapse after his seventh child, Oakleigh, was born and died on the same day in June 2018. The evening after Oakleigh's burial, Hayes came close to drinking alcohol again after two years of sobriety. "That night I actually drove to a bar and I wanted to just get hammered and get in a fight, and I didn't have my wallet," he revealed on Apple Music Country's Ty Bentli Show. "And when I went home, I just broke down."

    "When I walked in my house, and I was so ashamed, I saw my wife on the couch all by herself. I was like, 'I'm so sorry.' You know, I left her alone to just go self-destruct," Hayes continued. "And she helped me. She found an AA meeting in Williamson County."

Comments: 3

  • Jace from Los AngelesLove this song and all his other songs.
  • Maela S from Cullman, AlabamaI love this song but dont know exactly what to say bout it so if any of yall agree pls tell me
  • Ann K from AlabamaSober 18 years in AA. Not really sure if this song is catchy or disrespectful?
see more comments

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