Goodbye Earl

Infobox Single
Name = Goodbye Earl


Artist = Dixie Chicks
from Album = Fly
Released = 2000
Format = CD Single
Genre = Country
Length = 4:20
Certification =
Label = Monument
Writer = Dennis Linde
Producer = Blake Chancey
Paul Worley
Last single = "Cowboy Take Me Away"
(1999)
This single = "Goodbye Earl"
(2000)
Next single = "Cold Day in July"
(2000)

"Goodbye Earl", written by Dennis Linde, is a country music song. Initially recorded by the band Sons of the Desert for an unreleased album in the late 1990s, the song gained fame when it was recorded by the Dixie Chicks on their second studio album, featuring Natalie Maines as lead vocalist on Sony's Monument Records label; "Fly". After charting from unsolicited airplay in late 1999, the song was released as that album's third single in 2000, peaking at #13 on "Billboard's" Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts.

ong information

The song uses black comedy to tell the story of two best friends from high school, and what became of them after graduation. Mary Ann leaves the town where they had grown up, while Wanda settles on marrying a man named "Earl", who batters her on a continuous basis. Wanda files for divorce based on the domestic violence, but after posting bail, "Earl walked right through that restraining order and put her in intensive care". Mary Ann flies in from Atlanta, Georgia, and after some talking, the women decide "that Earl had to die", and they kill him, by poisoning his black-eyed peas. The song plot is something of a cross between the films "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Thelma and Louise".cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,82872,00.html|title=No Shrinking Violence |last=Tucker|first=Ken|date=September 21, 1999|work=But you gotta love their "Thelma and Louise"-style taste for revenge, says Ken Tucker|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|pages=1|accessdate=2008-07-19]

Charting

"Goodbye Earl" reached a peak position of #13 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart, a spot somewhat short of the Chicks' usual placings at the time. It lost some radio airplay by the band's conservative southern country fan base because of its take on domestic violence.Fact|date=July 2008 However, it also made the Top 20 of the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, peaking at #19, and would become the trio's highest charting song among pop listings until "Long Time Gone" in the summer of 2002. Regardless of rankings, the song has become one of the Chicks' most well-known tunes. It is an enthusiastically-received staple of all their concert tours.

Music video plot

The music video for the song was directed by Evan Bernard, who also played the role of Ezekiel Kincaid, Wanda's divorce lawyer. It starts off with some pictures of Wanda and Mary Ann in high school, and their parting. The next scene shows Wanda wearing a wedding dress in Earl's car after their marriage. As Wanda is increasingly abused by Earl, she dons dark glasses and long sleeve blouses to conceal her injuries. Finally, she hires an attorney for divorce, but Earl appears, abusing Wanda for the last time. Mary Ann hears of Wanda's admission to the Intensive Care Unit, and the two hatch the plan to kill Earl. They poison his black-eyed peas and Earl dies. A few days later, the police show up, seeking Earl but are unable to find him. After the seasons change, the two women are shown as business partners of a roadside stand, selling "strawberry jam and Tennessee Ham". As they dispose of Earl's body, the whole town (including a decomposed Earl among them) celebrates his death by dancing in a style that is at times reminiscent of Michael Jackson's video for Thriller. [cite web|url=http://www.boardsmag.com/articles/magazine/20010201/dc-evan-bernard.html|title="Evan Bernard Testifies"|last=Hunter|first=Sandy|date=February 1, 2001|publisher='Boards Magazine|pages=2|accessdate=2008-10-03]

Cast

*Dennis Franz as "Earl"
*Jane Krakowski as "Wanda"
*Lauren Holly as "Mary Ann"
*Adrian Pasdar as Police Officer
*Michael DeLuise as Police Officer
*Evan Bernard as "Ezekiel Kincaid"

Awards

The music video won both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association Video of the Year Awards in 2000.

Other versions and parodies

The song was originally recorded by the country music band Sons of the Desert but not put onto an album, because of a dispute with the band's label. Sons of the Desert had initially planned to record it on their second album for Epic Records, but the Dixie Chicks had claimed the song as their own; as a result, Sons of the Desert exited Epic in 1998.cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20001008/ai_n11755376 |title=Sons of the Desert don't mind getting a little 'SOD'dy |accessdate=2007-07-15 |format=html |work=FindArticles.com ]

Punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes also performed a cover of the song.

Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd recorded a parody, titled "Goodbye Squirrel", about a battle of wits between two hunters and a squirrel.

The song appears as a cover for the game Karaoke Revolution Country.

References