The Chicks, Goodbye Earl | Controversial Tunes 😈🎶

In the 23^rd edition of Controversial Tunes (2022), we explore the controversy behind the song, “Goodbye Earl”  by The Chicks. 

Bring on the controversy! Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  In the 23^rd edition of Controversial Tunes (2022), we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “Goodbye Earl” by 🎙 The Chicks.  Chicks.

“Earl had to die / Goodbye, Earl / Those black-eyed peas / They tasted all right to me, Earl.” Damn, I mean, dang! This seems like the opportune time to double down on the fact that two wrongs DO make a right, so, let’s controversially consult ‘the good book’ for context in the controversial 🎙 The Chicks classic, 🎵 “Goodbye Earl”! The Bible says, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, so, it feels totally right that 🎙 Natalie Maines and company atoned for abuse with the murder of the scum of the earth. HELL yeah, with emphasis on the HELL part.  Honestly, the excerpted lyrics from the chorus tell you why this gem from their 1999 album, 💿 Fly, is deemed as one of the most controversial songs of all time.

To be fair, The Chicks did NOT write the song or originally perform it.  Blame songwriter 🎼 ✍ Dennis Linde for the controversy, dang it! Linde is to blame for penning an anti-abuse anthem that found the abused (Wanda), and her friend (Mary Ann), murdering the abuser (Earl)! “You’re feeling weak / Why don’t you lay down and sleep, Earl,” Maines continues singing in the chorus, adding, “Ain’t it dark / Wrapped up in that tarp, Earl?” Again, what more can you say but, damn! Anyways, Linde wrote this anthem, which finds Earl abusing Wanda in the second verse, including Earl “Walked right through that restraining order / And put her in intensive care.” Originally, the song was recorded by 🎙 Sons of the Desert but the album was never released – a whole mess in itself.  Naturally, the messaging of “Goodbye Earl” is mixed, hence why it aroused the controversy it did.  It is probably best to look at this fictional song as tongue-in-cheek, however, there have been real life instances where someone was abused in some form or fashion, and they ultimately killed the abuser.  That said, it is still disturbing that “It turns out he [Earl] was a missing person / Who nobody missed at all.”

🎙 The Chicks • 💿 Fly • 🏷 Columbia • 🗓 1999

The Chicks, “Goodbye Earl”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 23 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Columbia, cottonbro, Darkmoon_Art,  TheDigitalArtist, inna mikitas, Isabela Catão, Jonathan Nenemann, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, Tazz Vaughn, Victoria Borodinova, zzzvector]