"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.

Song 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.