Walker Hayes’ New Song, ‘Don’t Let Her,’ Might Make You Cry

Walker Hayes has been married to his wife, Laney, for 15 years, so to say the couple knows a lot about each other is an understatement. Hayes used that to his advantage for his latest single, “Don’t Let Her,” which finds the singer speaking as if he’s passed on and another man is now with Laney, with Hayes offering him some advice when it comes to his wife.

“Laney and I have been together 20 something years, so we’re so cheesy,” Hayes told PopCulture.com. “We oftentimes play that game, What would you do if something happened to me?’ We love asking that question, because the answer is so great. It’s like, ‘I will never love again. You’re so great. You’re so funny. No one will be as cute as you,’ you know? And that feels good to hear that answer.”

“So yeah, there’s a little light heartedness that has to do with the talking to someone who’s maybe going to take my place and then, then there’s truth in it too, that’s like, it gives you a little sting.”

Hayes wrote the song while on tour in the U.K., sending his first draft to Laney to see what she thought.

“That’s what I do all the time,” he explained. “I’m like, ‘Hey, is this worth writing or not? You feel this?’ Especially love songs. She’s a great barometer. She’s pretty jaded, so she’s a tough crowd, but when she read that, she immediately texted me back, ‘You know, this made me teary eyed.’”

“We finished it out and then when I played the final version for her in the car, I mean she was choked up. She was like, ‘Give me a sec,’” Hayes recalled. “That’s a big deal. Laney and I have been in Nashville 15 years, so she’s heard every love song under the moon and I’ve tried to write a bazillion. To get a reaction out of her means something.”

The 39-year-old revealed that fans have also expressed similar sentiments after listening to the song, with many of them sharing their own stories with Hayes.

“A lot of people have reacted, like, ‘I hug my husband a little bit tighter, after I heard that song,’” he said. “The weirdest, but most awesome reactions we have gotten are from people who have actually experienced what the song talks about. We’ve had people say, ‘Hey, you know, this is my, this is my wife singing to me, or this is my husband singing to me. I lost them last year and I need to move on and realize that I’m allowed to be happy again.’”

Photo Credit: Getty / Terry Wyatt