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Fancy Like
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Date Aired
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November 2, 2021
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Running Time
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19:37
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Previous Review
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Next Review
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Website
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Todd plays "Fancy Like" on the piano.
WALKER HAYES - FANCY LIKE
A pop song review
Todd: So, country music, huh?
Clip of Eric Church performing "Stick That in Your Country Song" at the 2020 ACM Awards
Eric Church: Stick that in your country song
Todd (VO): Last year, during the height of the pandemic, I decided to get in touch with my roots and listen to country music again like I did when I was a kid. And I started getting really into it again. Hot take: there's a lot of really great country music out there, eat me.
Todd: Sorry, I don't mean to be defensive, but a lot of mainstream country music is actually pretty good. Especially last year.
Clips of Ashley McBryde - "One Night Standards"...
Todd (VO): I was really back into it in 2020. During that awful year trapped indoors, [...and Maddie & Tae - "Die From a Broken Heart"] songs about loneliness and drinking were very comforting to me. [clip of Morgan Wallen - "More Than My Hometown" from The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2020] I even made a country song my #1 favorite song of that year. And I felt really good about that. I thought that was a good, bold pick and I just felt good. I felt really, really good. [clip of TMZ video where Morgan Wallen...] And then just a couple weeks after that, that stupid motherfucker starts screaming the n-word on fucking camera! Are you fucking kidding me you stupid piece of shi-
Todd: [exhales angrily] Still quite bitter about that.
Clip of GMA interview with Morgan Wallen
Todd (VO): Thanks for ruining my list, jackass! Where's my apology?!
Todd: [folds his arms] I'm the real victim here.
Todd (VO): No, it's really amazing when you look at it. He had just released the biggest and most anticipated country album in ages.
Todd: So right when he got into the position where he could do maximum damage...
Todd (VO): ...he immediately did it. Incredible. I can't believe that only happened this year, it feels like we've been living under the shadow of that for a lot longer. And partially that's because he did it right when the entire industry is dealing with a long-overdue reckoning. With... [montage clips of various articles and news videos about politics in the country music industry] With a lot of shit, quite frankly. Honestly, Nashville seems like it's tearing itself apart right now. Everyone's arguing about how Morgan Wallen should be treated. [images from...] Superstar Jason Aldean has been putting anti-Biden shit all over his Instagram.
Video for Tim McGraw & Tyler Hubbard - "Undivided"
One of the guys from Florida Georgia Line wrote a song about how we all need to come together. [clip of Tyler Hubbard inauguration performance] And he sang it at Biden's inauguration [image of Florida Georgia Line with a red X over Brian Kelley's face] and the other guy refused to join him. [clip of Chase Rice ft. Florida Georgia Line - "Drinkin' Beer. Talkin' God. Amen."] There were rumors that they would actually break up over politics. It's just a shockingly fraught time for country.
Todd: And this could just be a coincidence. But at the same time, the music has also been pretty bad.
Clip of Niko Moon - "Good Time"
Niko Moon: Tryna catch a good time
Todd (VO): A whole bunch of people I follow on Twitter have been saying that this has been one of the worst years ever for country music. [in a goofy voice] Just like every year, ha ha. [back to normal] Again, eat me.
Todd: I heard people saying that, and [screenshot of Wikipedia article showing the Billboard #1 Hot Country Songs of 2021] I looked at the list of the big country hits this year. And... man, I don't like any of these!
Clip of Brett Young - "Lady"
Brett Young: I hope you look just like your mama
And love her like I do
Todd (VO): I liked a ton last year. But, what's this? This is garbage.
Clip of Gabby Barrett - "The Good Ones"
Gabby Barrett: He's one of the good ones
Crap. [clip of Chris Stapleton's 2021 ACM awards performance] I mean, yeah yeah, I like Eric Church and Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert just like everybody. But [clip of Miranda Lambert - "Settling Down"] at this point, that's like saying you only listen to Johnny Cash. It's corny and you may as well say nothing.
Todd: I mean, I wanna stick up for mainstream country music here.
Clip of Dan + Shay live performance
Todd (VO): But oh man, this is just not an inspiring group of songs. And from what people are telling me, it's not just that there are so few good songs, it's that the bad ones are really, really bad.
Todd: And in the weeks after I noticed it...
Video for Walker Hayes - "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): ...one bad song in particular started a slow but steady climb into the top ten, and now it's in the top five. There were rumors it could even get to # 1. I've already seen tons of people name it as one of the worst songs of all time.
Todd: Oh, boy. Well, here is the song we are talking about.
Walker Hayes: My girl is bangin', she's so low maintenance
Todd (VO): It's called, "Fancy Like".
Walker: Take her to Wendy's, can't keep her off me
It's about how he and his woman are proudly low-class and they don't need nice things, but...
Todd: ...every once in a while they do it up.
Walker: I gotta spoil my baby with an upgrade
Todd: [pause] By going to Applebee's.
Walker: Yeah, we fancy like Applebee's on a date night
Got some Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake
Todd (VO): If you are not a country fan and yet find this song oddly familiar, you may recognize it from actual Applebee's commercials.
Audio for "Fancy Like" plays over clip of Applebee's commercial
Walker: Got some Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake
Applebee's scooped it up a couple months ago, and they even put the Oreo shake back on the menu for a brief time.
Todd: So a song that sounds like a commercial jingle...
Todd (VO): ...and is now an actual commercial jingle is one of the biggest songs in America. You would think being in a commercial would've ended it, but it's just kept getting bigger ever since.
Clip of "Fancy Like" live performance
Walker: I gotta spoil my baby with an upgrade
Ayy, ayy, ayy
Now, pretty much everyone I know has just reacted in shock and horror. Like, friends I hadn't even talked to in a while hit me up on Facebook like, "Hey, have you heard this horrible thing? It's so awful, it'll turn your hair white."
Todd: It would be... easy for me to react like that. You know, just be all aghast and make stupid faces. But, [pause] I am... reluctant to do that.
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): Not because I particularly like this song. I do not. But...
Todd: ...because I feel like reacting in horror would be giving it what it wants.
Walker: Country kisses on my lips without the Skoal in 'em
Todd (VO): You know like when your little brother is being a brat [images of boy making an "L" sign on his forehead...] to you on purpose so that you'll hit him and he can run to Mom? [...troll face meme stamped over the Twitter logo...] Or when some troll on Twitter's being obnoxious in your mentions, so you block him and [...and screenshot showing...] then they go, "LOL! They blocked me, I win!" Like, I feel like this song is trying to provoke that reaction.
Todd: Am-am I making any sense? It's a song about being tasteless.
Walker: Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam
Todd (VO): So if I get up on my high horse and be all like, "Oh my God! This song is just offensively tasteless!" Like, yes. Yes, that's the point.
Todd: I feel like if I do that, then the clown is me. And it really wants me to do that. Like, listen to this.
Walker: Take her to Wendy's, can't keep her off me
She wanna dip me like them fries in her Frosty
Todd: [beat; puts elbows on piano] I remember the first time I saw someone dip their Wendy's fries in their Frosty. [images of the inside of a Wendy's restaurant...] It was a co-worker. Uh, we were out on our lunch break, [...and a vanilla Frosty with several fries dipped in it; ominous music starts playing] and we saw her eat Frosty-dipped fries... and the rest of us just bugged out our eyes like, "Oh my God." And she tried to convince us this was actually good, and... [pause] when that didn't work, and we were just still horrified, she-she just kept eating them even harder because she thought our jaw-dropped expressions were funny.
Todd (VO): I've kind of wondered in hindsight if I was just being closed-minded, but then Walker Hayes compared it to his and his wife's junk, so now I'm never gonna try it. [pause] But again, I feel like I'm put in a position where I'm the one being laughed at. So, I don't like this, but I struggle with disliking it more than your average shitty rap-country song.
Todd: We may have to go a little deeper here.
Clip of Walker Hayes interview
Todd (VO): So, with that in mind, let us examine the man behind the song; an artist named Walker Hayes, who is a person I made up just now.
Todd: [pause] I mean, you don't know.
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): There's a billion of these guys, and I have not been paying attention long enough to tell them apart. Like, they all have similar-sounding names: [brief images of...] Walker Hayes, Brett Young, Lee Brice... Luke Evans, Bryson Tiller... Cobie Smulders.
Todd: I dunno.
Video for Walker Hayes - "You Broke Up With Me"
Todd (VO): My point is that he's no one especially noteworthy [images of Walker Hayes...] except for looking like a real-life version of [...and...] the Wolfenstein guy.
Walker: Whoa, girl, simmer on down a notch
Before now, he's only had one major hit, and... that was from, like, a few years ago now. And he didn't really follow that up, so he's not some hot new up-and-comer either.
Video for Walker Hayes - "I Hope You Miss Me"
Todd (VO): In fact, if you try not to have opinions about his music for a second, he's actually a really inspiring story of persistence. He's been chasing his dream for a long time, he's been dropped by two labels. [clip of "You Broke Up With Me"] Only now, after ten years of trying does he seem to have established himself.
Todd: On the negative, that also means he's a 41-year old man...
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): ...making music that sounds like this.
Walker: Squeaky-squeakin' in the truck bed all the way home
Now, as you can tell from this cheap-o barely a music video, there was not a lot of expectation attached to this song. It was a nothing song from nobody. [screen capture of People Magazine article: "Why Has 'Fancy Like' Blown Up? Walker Hayes Is Still Trying to Figure It Out: 'Wasn't Supposed to Happen!'"] And Hayes, like the rest of the world, does not seem to really understand how this took off.
Todd: Well, there is an obvious reason. I can tell it to you right now.
Clip of TikTok video of Walker dancing to "Fancy Like" with his daughter
Todd: [exasperated] Fuckin' TikTok.
Todd (VO): I mean, that's what it was. Hayes did a goofy TikTok dance with his daughter and it went viral.
Todd: That of course would've been the obvious answer if this were any other song. But country music lags behind all the other...
Todd (VO): ...genres on hot trends like this new TikTok thing. [clip of Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - "Old Town Road (Remix)"] Yes, obviously there was "Old Town Road", but that was from an outsider to Nashville. The only person [clip of Morgan Wallen TikTok video] within the industry to ever master TikTok was Morgan Wallen, may he rest in peace.
Todd: Yeah yeah, he's on the apology tour, we'll see how it goes.
Clip of TikTok video of man dancing to "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): But yeah, country TikTok dance, I'm fine with that honestly. It's almost kinda nostalgic. [clip of people...] When I was a kid, country music was all about line dances, so this is not really that new. [clip of Morning News interview with Walker] And yet Hayes himself thinks this was probably a fluke and that Nashville won't be going viral again anytime soon.
Todd: Now, as a YouTuber, I resent TikTok in [images of school clubs for...] kinda the same way yearbook hated [...and...] newspaper in high school. I-I don't get it. That's a culture I don't understand. Also I'm kinda jealous.
Screenshot of The Verge article "YouTube videos keep getting longer"
Todd (VO): YouTube keeps pushing people to make longer and longer videos, and over there you only need ten seconds.
Todd: Like, maybe I should switch platforms. I mean, I can do [video switches from horizontal to...] vertical. Put on some [caption appears saying "put some captions on it"] captions on it. Like, look at that. [captions of what Todd is saying continue to appear] In fact, I don't even need to talk, I can just play music the entire time.
As Todd mimes speaking, Jawsh 685's "Laxed (Siren Beat)" plays and captions continue to appear
wow, this is way easier
i am blowing all my lines right now and you can't even tell
Todd: [video returns to normal] No, I hate it. I-I don't get it, I'm not gonna try.
Videos of people dancing on TikTok
Todd (VO): Now, I could use this song to make a point about TikTok being bad for music. But my real problem with TikTok music is that it just seems entirely random. I have no idea how or why things go viral over there. Like, new songs, old songs, big songs, small songs. [clips of Kali Uchis - "telepatía"...] TikTok has introduced the world to some of the best music I've listened to in recent years, [...and StaySolidRocky - "Party Girl"] and also some of the worst fucking garbage I've ever heard. [clip of woman dancing to "Fancy Like" on TikTok] There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Like, is this dance better than other dances? Why this?
Todd: But you know what? I care about the song. I don't care about dances.
Clip of Walker Hayes TikTok video
Todd (VO): I mean, I do think it's fucking gross to dance with your daughter to a song you wrote about how her mom wants you to stick your French fry in her Frosty!
Walker: Squeaky-squeakin' in the truck bed all the way home
Ew!
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): So yes, disgust was my first reaction to this song. But no, I am not really comfortable with that.
Todd: For one thing, I have no right to judge. Like, as you can tell by my [waves hands over the wall to his left] opulently decorated palates here, I am not a man of expensive tastes. [clip of Lombardi ring commercial] I have charmed many a lucky lady by presenting them with only the finest jewelry from... [screenshot of discount coupon from...] Claire's. Kidding.
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): But yeah, if this guy thinks Applebee's is a hot date, like, what am I gonna say? I prefer Ruby Tuesday's. [clips of commercial for...] But what's wrong with Applebee's? [...and...] In fact, just for this episode, I went down to Applebee's and I tried the Bourbon Street steak, and uh...
Clip of Todd staring down at his steak
Todd: Yep, that's a steak alright.
This is what your Patreon dollars are paying for, by the way.
Todd: I couldn't do this without you. [makes a salute] Thank you so much.
Todd (VO): But you know, it's a good $16 steak. Like, I'm not gonna act like I have some refined palate. [clip of Ariana Grande - "7 Rings"] I can't relate at all to these pop and rap songs about luxury goods. They do nothing for me.
Video for...
I should totally be able to get "Fancy Like". That's what I'm about.
Todd: Why are we all scandalized by this?
Video for Chris Stapleton - "Starting Over"
Todd (VO): A whole lot of really good country music is about finding the joy and grace in small moments.
Todd: And that's what Hayes says he wanted this song to be about.
Video for Beyoncé - "Formation"
Todd (VO): And also, you guys ate it up when Beyoncé was rapping about Red Lobster Cheddar biscuits!
Beyoncé: When he fuck me good, I take his ass to Red Lobster
You remember that?! Ohh, so we act like it's cringe for some dumb redneck to like casual dining, but it's okay when Beyoncé does it.
Todd: [beat] Okay, I'm gonna answer my own rhetorical question here. Yes, it is okay when Beyoncé does it.
Todd (VO): Like, I'm thinking about it, and... Beyoncé took something that was considered tacky and used her glamor and fame and charisma to make it seem cool.
Video for...
But "Fancy Like" is not exactly a tribute to the...
Todd: ...dignity of the simple man.
Walker: That's how we do, how we do, fancy like
Todd (VO): If there's any joy to be found in an Applebee's, he's done everything he can to strip it away. Dignity. I mean, that's a joke. There's absolutely no dignity in this.
Walker: My new, clean blue jeans without the holes in 'em
The dopey white guy flow, and the obnoxious, dorky guitar riff... [snippet of said riff plays over clip of "Fancy Like"] Vaguely trap bass. Just enough to let you know that we're aware of hip-hop, but you know, not enough to be any good at it.
Walker: Ayy, ayy, ayy
Todd (VO): It just sounds like shit. It's humiliating to listen to. The production is like a musical Larry the Cable Guy sketch. [clip of Prilosec commercial ft. Larry the Cable Guy] If Larry also used words like, "bangin'", and "bougie", and all the other hot African-American slang of thirty years ago that we've just now learned.
Clip of "Fancy Like"
Walker: Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam
Like, I-I'm sorry to break it to you, black people, but we've ruined yet another of your words. I'm so sorry.
Todd: It's embarrassing! If I was at an Applebee's and this song came on, I'd feel ashamed of myself!
Clip of Applebee's commercial
Todd (VO): Like, goddamn! I'm just trying to enjoy some ribs at an affordable price, and then this song comes out like, [image of stereotypical redneck holding a beer bottle; Todd speaks in a Southern drawl] "Yep! That's what we fuckin' morons think is classy! [clip of Motorsports mud racing] We wallow in pig shit all day, and then on special occasion, we go to right where you're sittin' right now!"
Todd: [normal] Gee, thanks, Walker Hayes! I wasn't self-conscious about [image of...] my Southwest chicken bowl until you started singing!
Clip of another Walker Hayes TikTok video
Todd (VO): Maybe I'm projecting. Like, I'm guessing a lot of people see this as kind of just, you know, a fun, goofy song about simple pleasures. But this is not a warm song to me.
Todd: Like, I don't know if I noticed it when I was a kid, or if it just really is just that much worse now...
Video for Luke Combs ft. Eric Church - "Does to Me"
Todd (VO): ...but I didn't realize how bitter and defensive country music is about being from the country.
Luke Combs: And that might not mean much to you
But it does to me
So say I'm a middle of the road
Like, it's not just about loving your small town, and huntin' n' fishin', and all that shit.
Todd: It's about massive insecurity.
Clip of Chris Young & Kane Brown - "Famous Friends"
Chris Young: You might not know 'em here in this big city we're in
Todd (VO): Just ugly lashing out at people, 'cause they don't think your lifestyle's cool, and how... you know, "Actually, you know what? We're not jealous of places with culture, dammit! Actually you're jealous of us!"
Todd: So maybe in a vacuum, this song would just be embarrassing.
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): But I kinda suspect there's an edge to it underneath. But, maybe I'm just imagining that, I dunno. The thing is...
Todd: ...the song's also just not very well written. Like, what's this?
Walker: Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam
Squeaky-squeakin' in the truck bed all the way home
Todd (VO): See, I thought the chorus was supposed to be about all the slightly fancier things you enjoy sometimes. Like a sit-down restaurant instead of Wendy's.
Todd: But what is Natty Lite supposed to be fancier than?!
Todd (VO): That's already the worst, cheapest piss-water beer you can drink!
Todd: Is the fancy part the [images of drink cooler made out of...] styrofoam?! Do you normally drink it out of... [...and...] like, a dog bowl or off the floor?!
Todd (VO): Meanwhile, you got shit like this in the verses, which is supposed to be about how cheap they are usually.
Walker: Don't need no Tesla to impress her
My girl is happy rollin' on a Vespa
Todd: [pause] Do... do you actually own a Vespa?
Todd (VO): Okay, I'm worried I'm about to embarrass myself here, 'cause I don't actually know anything about what is and isn't a luxury item, but...
Todd: ...I thought Vespas were, you know, pretty expensive? [clip of guy riding a Vespa scooter] Like, I get it's still a scooter. It's never gonna be cool, it's not a car. But as far as mopeds go, [screenshot of Vespa 946] that's a really upscale brand, right? [clips of '60s Vespa ads] Those things are like $7,000. I thought they were like the-the chic imported, "Italian stylish and classy" stupid, little scooter. It's not something I associate with Wendy's and mobile homes!
Video for "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): So yeah, just on the basics, I also think this song is bad.
Todd: Oh, and I haven't yet mentioned the reason that this was rumored to go all the way to #1.
Clip of "Fancy Like (Remix)" ft...
Kesha: Kesha's here
Todd: See, no country artist crosses over to pop radio without a...
Todd (VO): ...pop star getting them in the door. So, they got a remix featuring Kesha.
Todd: Didn't work, but it was an attempt.
Walker & Kesha: Fancy like Applebee's on a date night
Todd: See, there's another thing that makes me worried I'm on the wrong side of this.
Todd (VO): 'Cause we're all rooting for Kesha now. We all adore Kesha. We all want Kesha to succeed.
Todd: And a whole bunch of critics, including [points at himself] yours truly...
Video for Kesha - "TiK ToK"
Todd (VO): ...bashed her all the time during her heyday for being trashy. [sarcastically] Don't we all feel bad for that? So, yeah. Now Kesha's here.
Todd: To make us enjoy being tacky again.
Clip of "Fancy Like (Remix)"
Kesha: I don't need no Bentley to impress me (Woo)
I'll ride a bull into the party like a jet ski (That's right)
Boy, put that Dom down, take me to Waffle House (Hey)
Give me those cheap thrills, chillin' in the deep South
Todd: [buries himself in his hands] This is worse.
Todd (VO): I really can't put my finger on why, but I like this even less than the original. Like, this just doesn't seem like a good use of your Kesha.
Todd: Okay, what I'm learning from this is that there are different kinds of tacky.
Video for Kesha - "We R Who We R"
Todd (VO): And Kesha was the fun, messy kind of cheap and tasteless. [clip of "Fancy Like (Remix)"] And this song is just not messy. It's just smug and satisfied.
Todd: See here's the thing about it. [pause] How do I put this?
Video for Walker Hayes ft. Jake Owen - "Country Stuff"
Todd (VO): Okay, I checked out some of Walker Hayes' other songs. He's got one called, [brief Southern accent] "Country Stuff", [normal] about the things he likes.
Walker: Now taxidermy, that's art
Favorite movie
Jake: You serious, Clark?
Todd: I think he's saying that his [clip from...] favorite movie is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?
Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid): You serious, Clark?
Todd (VO): Okay.
Todd: Odd choice.
Todd (VO): Well, if that's what he loves, uh... [clip of "Fancy Like"] I guess that makes this a song for the Cousin Eddies of the world. But honestly to me...
Todd: ...this feels more like a song for Clark Griswold.
Todd (VO): Like, Applebee's and Wendy's are where poor people go, I guess. But it's also where everybody goes. They're the most popular restaurants in America.
Todd: Like, I'm trying not to sound like I'm making fun of poor people, but... this isn't really about being poor. It's about being basic!
Montage clips of TikTok dance videos ft. "Fancy Like"
Todd (VO): I'm just saying, the homes in some of these TikToks look pretty nice. For all we know, Walker Hayes could be singing this from a decent-sized house with a big, fancy TV and a giant, new truck in the yard! [clip of "Fancy Like"] So yeah, I'm trying not to look like a snob, but this song still sucks, I don't like it at all. But I can say one thing about it.
Todd: One thing about being tacky is that at least you're not boring.
Todd (VO): When I say that the year in country music has sucked, I don't mean that it all sounded like this.
Todd: It's the exact opposite.
Clip of Jake Owen - "Made For You"
Jake: 'Cause I was made for you
Todd (VO): I think music row looked at all the controversy going on in the industry right now, and they decided that the best thing to do to make it all go away is to play it as safe as possible.
Todd: And this is not an industry that takes chances to begin with.
Video for Luke Combs - "Forever After All"
Todd (VO): So what we've gotten instead is a lot of really, really boring love songs. [clips of Luke Bryan - "Waves"...] Like, even the old bro-country holdouts are making the most tastefully dull songs of their careers. [...and "Fancy Like"] So, this may be the worst, most horrible sound I've ever heard, but at least I noticed it.
Todd: But this is also kinda boring in its own way.
Todd (VO): Like, are you the fun, on-purpose kind of tacky, Walker Hayes? Or are you just lazy? Like, if this were about my marriage, I'd get worried! Like, I don't know, man. Maybe your wife isn't as low maintenance as you think she is. Maybe she'd like a little more effort than fucking Applebee's! Especially if you keep calling her double wide, and sing about dipping her Frosty! Ugh! This song makes me ashamed of myself.
Todd: I'm gonna go develop a taste for organic caviar or something.
Gets up and leaves
Clip of "Fancy Like (Remix)"
Walker & Kesha: That's how we do, how we do, fancy like
Closing Tag Song: Drake ft. T.I. & Swizz Beatz - "Fancy"
THE END
"Fancy Like" is owned by Monument Nashville
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!