Walker Hayes Gives No. 1 Hit 'Fancy Like' a Holiday Makeover (Exclusive)

“Fancy Like” is back — with bells on!

And this time around, Walker Hayes' seismic hit of 2021 could prove even more irresistible because of its added ingredient: the holiday spirit.

Just released, “Fancy Like Christmas” is still completely recognizable, with the melody and rhyming cadence of the original, but all new lyrics now feature a Santa’s sleigh-full of holiday references. (And yes, sleigh bells have been added to the accompaniment.)

So, step aside, “we fancy like Applebee’s on a date night.” Instead it’s “we fancy like Christmas round a fake tree.” Out with “country kisses on my lips without the Skoal in ’em.” In with “leg lamp with some fishnet hose on it.”

No doubt the new version has put Hayes in a festive mood.

“We were just all smiles writing that song,” the 43-year-old artist says about his brainstorming with the song’s original co-writers, Josh Jenkins and Shane Stevens. “It was kind of a revisit of the day we did the original, and I just love it. It makes me so happy.”

The new lyrics are such a perfect fit, you have to wonder: What took Hayes so long? In fact, Hayes’ label manager, Katie McCartney, was the one who floated the idea a couple of years ago, but Hayes admits he just let it pass by. Then, this October, when his personal manager reminded him of it, he says the first few lines almost instantly tumbled out of his fertile mind. Once Jenkins and Stevens were enlisted, most of the song was written in a text exchange.

The brand-new music video is equally inspired with the entire Hayes family — including wife Laney and their six kids, ages 8 to 17 — all having “an absolute blast” in front of the camera, Hayes says. (PEOPLE offers three exclusive behind-the-scenes peeks at the on-set merriment.) Comedy music duo Austin Bever and Colin Cooper, aka Austin & Colin, created the video, piling on lots of visual holiday references to complement the new lyrics.  

Of course, in writing the new version, Hayes made sure there were a few nods to the original. His favorite restaurant chain does make a guest appearance: “Hopin’ Santa gonna leave an Applebees’s gift card.” And “bougie like Natty in the Styrofoam” is traded out for “bougie like blowups in the front yard.”

That line is especially dear to Hayes’ heart because, years ago, he promised his three daughters and three sons that they each could have their own holiday blowup — if he ever scored a No. 1 song. “Fancy Like,” a multi-week chart topper, allowed him to make good on his promise, and the family has since gone a bit overboard: Their front yard, Hayes reports, now proudly sports eight blowups.

Indeed, the holiday version reflects the Hayes home life, perhaps even more than the original lyrics. The family loves Christmas so much that they keep their fake white-flocked tree up year-round. “It makes me happy just sitting in the living room,” says Hayes.

His Monument Records label ensured Hayes was in the Christmas spirit when he and his fellow songwriters met in late October to finish the new lyrics. Holiday decorations greeted them in the office space where they gathered.

Hayes still relishes the wordplay they came up with, making sure to give full credit to Stevens for one of his favorites, “Mariah Karaoke.”

“I’m like, man, how funny that ‘karaoke’ is already half her name!” says Hayes, who released his latest full-length project, New Money, in September.

The three songwriters felt the pressure when it came time to replace the line that every audience belts out: “Two straws, one check / girl, I got you.” Hayes, who has long been open about his Christian faith, was the one who turned the focus to the reason for the season.

“It’s Jesus’ birthday, you know,” he says, “and I was like, how do you communicate that? Because, sadly, we’ve made Jesus’ birth an afterthought.”

He came up with a novel solution — “Go, Jesus! It’s your birthday!” — at the exact moment that Stevens was sipping a beverage.

“He spit it all over the table,” Hayes recalls with a hearty laugh. “And I was like, is that good? Do you think we can do that? And he was like, we are so keeping that. I truly love and trust those two guys, and they are very sweet to allow me those crazy lines.”

Hayes has since performed the song a couple of times live, and sure enough, the “Go Jesus!” line is an audience favorite. “Once you sing that one time,” says Hayes, “you can let the crowd do it the rest of the night.”

Now off the road, Hayes is already anticipating the Christmas version will put him in a pickle once he’s back on tour. Will audiences demand he sing both?

“I might have to do a blended version,” he teases.

He also realizes the Christmas version could well have more legs than the original since holiday songs are often brought back into rotation annually.

“A friend of mine texted me, and he was like, 40 years from now, you’re gonna have to explain to your grandkids that that isn’t the original version,” Hayes says.

For now, he’s just delighted that “Fancy Like” has turned into the gift that keeps on giving.

“This joy,” he says, “has really refueled me with this excitement to get in and go. Let’s have some fun. Let’s go outside the box and play. And that’s what I needed. It’s funny how this song came back and did that for me.”