This documentary is one the entire family can enjoy watching together because it is about family. Walker Hayes, his wife, and six kids traveled together on a tour bus following Walker’s big hit song, “Fancy Like.”
Walker says in the documentary, “I’m just a dad,” but it turns out he had much more in store for music lovers everywhere. Walker had played country music for years and never hit it big. But when his song hit TikTok, it soon went viral and wound up with 13 million views in the first week. Walker says in the film that he went from being a dad to “being on the road.”
His wife Laney explains their background together—they had gone to school together, dated, broke up, and then got back together and moved to Nashville. It turns out that Walker was a high-performing alcoholic, and his daughter says he slept on the couch, not realizing he was passed out from alcohol. His determination to beat his drinking is one of the interesting aspects of the film. Walker’s friend, Shane McAnally, co-president of Monument Records, shares that both he and his friend Walker struggled with the addiction. Walker walked into a writer’s room and was asked how he was doing with “all this fancy stuff?” “I’m just trying to stay out of A.A.” he replied. But the idea of fancy stuff and fancy like was born. He was a 17-year overnight success!
A couple of the keys to the hit song is that although it has a bit of a country flavor, it is unique with its upbeat music style and it talks about becoming fancy like by eating at Applebee’s instead of a fast -food burger place! It’s really about enjoying his life with his wife and doing the simple things.
The documentary features Walker’s trail to becoming a big hit country star, including his becoming sober, and the perseverance it took in writing songs and playing music. And then finding the right song that catapulted him into becoming a major force in the music industry, and the rewards that accompanied it. It’s said he sings about great things—God, country, family. He was always on the cusp of stardom, but it took writing the right song to accomplish it. Walker’s wife Laney says the family never hit a poverty point, but really struggled to make ends meet. At one point Walker shelved items for Costco and Laney says, “It grounds you like nothing else.”
It might have been one step forward and two steps back, as Laney says, but she adds that his tenacity wouldn’t let him give up. One of the hardships included one daughter (Oakleigh) dying or, as the family put it, “Six (children) on Earth, one in Heaven.” Their daughter Lela hoped for a sister and was sad to hear of the loss. Lela remembers hugging her crying dad.
The meteoric rise of the song, becoming a number one hit and Walker suddenly being gone on the road a lot is one of the things the documentary examines, and how it changed the family’s lives. The family had fun with it. The kids told their dad the song wouldn’t pass a certain hit song, but when it did, Walker joked, “In your face!” His own daughter Lela had helped choreograph the dance moves in the song. It’s said that people from ages 8 to 88 loved the song, which came out in 2021, following COVID and the pandemic. Even Applebee’s profited from the song, partnering with Walker and his family who enjoyed having a gold card from Applebee’s. The song, as journalist Andrew Wendowski says, “just took off!” To say it went viral is an understatement.
Walker says he wishes he could repeat the success but it “was just magic.” However, he did follow up with a hit song titled “A.A.” The film does a good job in showing the highlights, with Walker posing for photos with fans, but it’s mentioned that he has had to sit in a lot of airports and hotel lobbies. But it all comes down to family, and although the documentary does a good job in chronicling the song’s success, it shows that his family is most important to him. And, as he wrote about enjoying Oreo shakes with his wife Laney, Applebee’s brought them back after an absence of many years! The ultimate compliment is when Walker’s names, clothes, etc. wind up in the Country Music Hall of Fame in other music displays. Ultimately, the idea that “he’s a good guy,” as one person describes him, and that “he never gave up” are two wonderful descriptions of the man who hit it big with “Fancy Like.”
Content Analysis: There is a Christian worldview included in the documentary, with the family praying together and talk of God and country. The importance of family is also a main theme.
Think About It: Some discussion points could be aimed at Walker’s determination to quit drinking and how he kept his family as the focus of his life, before and after he hit it big with his number one song.
The Dove Take: This documentary is one the family can enjoy together as they watch the life of a man who made it big with his song, but how he kept God and his family as the focus of his life. The film has earned our Dove Seal for All Ages.
