“AA” by Walker Hayes

For starters, the “AA” in this song is a shoutout to Alcoholics Anonymous, the well-known NGO which helps drunkards kick their alcohol addiction. The way the vocalist references said organization is in alluding to his own desire not to be re-captivated by such malady. The reason he regularly feels compelled to resort to the bottle is because, most simply put, Walker is a bit stressed out.

As this song has been marketed, said stress would have something to do with Hayes recently losing a child. But as for the actual lyrics, that reality is not featured in the storyline. Rather as presented, his two primary concerns are finances (i.e. inflation) and, reading in between the lines, raising his kids in a tough society like America’s. In this tough American environment, he fears his sons may end up in prison, or his daughters employed as sex workers. The vocalist also seems to be under the impression that maybe one day his wife will leave him.

But beyond that, Walker comes off as your quintessential country-music dude – or “just another John Deere guy”, as he puts it. That is to say that he isn’t gainfully employed or anything like that but rather someone who is striving to survive and whose primary concern appears to be providing a fruitful future for his family. As far as his own personal life is concerned, his main discipline revolves around “trying to stay out of AA”, i.e. not being tempted to grab a beer every time he feels significant stress or discomfort.

Facts about “AA”

This track, which Monument Nashville Records made public on 19 November 2021, served as the third single to Walker Hayes’ 2022 project “Country Stuff the Album”. 

Shane McAnally, a better known name in the country music circuit, co-wrote and co-produced this piece, accomplishing the latter task with Scott Johnson and the former with Luke Laird.

In terms of chart performance, this song most notably made it onto the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs list.

Up until this point Walker Hayes has a couple of multi-platinum hits under his belt, the most recent being 2021’s “Fancy Like“, which is considered to be his signature song.

“Country Stuff the Album”

“Country Stuff the Album” was released on the 21st of January, 2022. It is Walker’s third album.

Washington based record label, Monument Records was responsible for the release of the album.

The album features a re-recorded version of Hayes’ 2018 hit song, “Craig”. He performed the new version with American band MercyMe.

This album holds the distinction of being Walker’s first album to chart within the top-10 in the US.

In addition to “AA”, two other singles emerged from this album. They are:

• “Fancy Like”
• “U Gurl”