Another year, another failed attempt by Walker Hayes to recreate the commercial success of “You Broke Up With Me” from years back, and … wait, you’re telling me this really is a legitimate hit at this point? Ugh. I hate TikTok. I really do.
In a year that’s been absolutely abysmal for country radio singles, “Fancy Like” somehow outdoes “The Worst Country Song of All Time,” “Dicked Down in Dallas,” “Am I The Only One,” and a plethora of other turds in its suckitude. At this point, my thoughts on it come far later than other reviewers and weird thought-thinkers, and there’s not really not much to say about it anyway: Hayes’ atrocious talk-singing continues to work against him, especially when he’s trying to be playful and charming and can’t sell it because the overall production tries to go for overblown swagger that’s far beyond him.
Speaking of that, the song tries to go for southern-rock funk in the meatier guitar work but lacks any semblance of groove and feels wholly clunky, which works against the song’s main theme of trying to make cheap dates look fun. And hey, if this were the ‘90s and the song had been rewritten to actually reflect a mature couple, this corny little song could have sold itself decently – on paper, at least – but this isn’t funny or leads to any big joke; it’s just sleazy in its attempt and various one-liners to try and appeal to Gen-Z culture.
It’s about real life to an extent, for sure – I, too, like me some Wendys and Applebees (and as someone who works in marketing, hello, brand integration!) – but to suggest that this actually belongs within the genre … well, the standards aim just a little too low here for that to be the case.
Grade: F (ancy Like broke my brain)
Written by Cameron Bartolini, Josh Jenkins, Shane Stevens, and Walker Hayes
The Musical Divide 
Is this just another moment where modern country music is like “How do you do, fellow kids?” Nashville is probably gonna be cranking out stuff like THIS Frankenstein’s monster of a song rather than bringing in more neotraditional artists. I never heard “Fancy Like”, but I heard it once in a video where Grady Smith reviewed the song and now I feel like I have to take multiple showers every day! If Nashville ever tries this crap again, they’ll probably do it with Kane Brown or some other dude because he’s apparently been popular with children for some time. I dunno how Nashville does it, but it’s all just corporatism at its finest if you ask me.
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Update: I just heard “Fancy Like” on the local country radio station where I live. I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.
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