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All About Walker Hayes and the Song "Wednesdays" He Wrote with Hoda Kotb
Hayes surprised Kotb for her final episode of TODAY with an emotional performance.
It was a bittersweet symphony for Hoda Kotb, whose last day at TODAY was Friday, January 10. Fortunately, it was a day filled with memories, friendship, and music, courtesy of Walker Hayes.
Kotb is a longtime Country fan, so Country pop singer-songwriter Walker Hayes was the perfect musician to surprise her, and the song he chose couldn't have been more meaningful. In fact, Kotb helped write it.
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What Walker Hayes and Hoda Kotb's "Wednesdays" means
"Wednesdays" is an ode to the everyday, nothing special, just getting by moments in life, and the people by your side while they happen. It's about finding peace in the mundane.
"Some days are the best days. Some days are 'she said yes' days. Some days are 'it’s a girl, good lord how in the world did I get this blessed' days," sings Hayes, contrasting the highs of life with the lows with the line, "Some days are the worst days, on the taillights of a hearse days."
But there are already so many songs about extremes. Instead, sings Hayes, he's thinking about the not-good, not-bad days: "Most days are just Wednesdays. Get up and do the same old same again’s days."
"If tomorrow ain’t nothing new, I’m just glad I get to do, just another Wednesday with you," he sings, perfectly encapsulating the gratitude we all have for the people we see all the time.
How Walker Hayes collaborated with Hoda Kotb
The song hasn't officially been released yet, but Hayes posted a video of himself playing guitar and singing it with his daughter, and explained in his caption, "Happy New Year y'all. Here's to appreciate the ones we do life with...especially on Wednesdays. Cuz I mean...most days are just Wednesdays. Love the song so much I posted it on a Tuesday."
He added that Lolly (his daughter) always had the tune stuck in her head, and tagged musician Lori McKenna and Hoda Kotb, and that credit is no joke. In December 2024, Hayes talked to Kotb for her Making Space podcast about his TikToks with his daughters, and on TODAY, Kotb teased her involvement in his music. "He’s just really cool, and we’re working on a song together," she said.
"Walker Hayes was here, and he said 'Hoda, I’m still working on our song.' And we’re like, 'what?'" explained co-host Savannah Guthrie, adding,"Hoda gave him an idea for a song, which is actually a great idea, and he’s writing a song." After she clarified to Al Roker that she wouldn't be singing, Kotb revealed, “It’s called 'Wednesday.' I’m like a co-writer." And now she can hear it! What a perfect send-off for the longtime TODAY host.
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Who is Walker Hayes?
Hayes is a winger-songwriter from Alabama who married his high school sweetheart, Laney. The pair are parents to three boys and three girls, and though Hayes broke through in the industry in 2017, it wasn't until the viral success of his song "Fancy Like" (which hit the top of the Country charts and #3 on Billboard's Hot 100) that he felt stable enough to take his kids on tour.
"They bring this this fun light, bright energy to the road and I've heard venues tell me that, 'Man, it was so nice just having the dogs and kids around,'" he told ET in 2022. "It's a beautiful, light distraction from just the heaviness of the work and all of us being away from family, so I love it. But when we get back, it is a lot of laundry."
Some of his other well-known songs include "Y'all Life," "You Broke Up With Me," and "AA," a reference to his own journey to sobriety.
