But the best thing about “Goodbye Earl” is the palpable lifelong bond between the song’s core protagonists, Mary Ann and Wanda. And there’s Natalie Maines’ vocal performance, which expertly walks the line between deadly serious (befitting a song about abuse) and cracking up (befitting a song about poisoning your abuser’s black-eyed peas, dumping his body in a lake and then opening a roadside fruit stand). There’s the fact that the writer of that story, Dennis Linde, also wrote Elvis Presley’s 1972 hit “Burning Love” (!), and that the “Earl” single’s b-side was an ironic cover of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” There’s that incredible “na na na na na, goodbyyyyyyeee Eaaaaaaarrrl” hook in the chorus and the way the banjo kicks in at the start of the second and fourth verses. There’s the well-crafted story about small-town life, domestic violence and murder that powers the song. There are lots of amazing things about “Goodbye Earl,” the third single from the Dixie Chicks’ outstanding fifth album, Fly. Listen to the Spotify playlist right here. Here are our picks, as voted by the Paste Staff.
Albums were still relevant, but singles were the lifeblood of artists in the making, which is why we decided to recap the best songs of 1999. Meanwhile, the golden age of ’90s indie rock was winding down, but had another masterpiece up its sleeve in the form of an album called Keep It Like A Secret. TLC and Destiny’s Child were radio hitmakers who ushered in a new chapter of R&B girl group domination. Boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC were pushing a new brand of inescapable slippery pop, while their female counterparts, like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, flew solo with help from rising pop masterminds like Max Martin. Two years earlier, during her infamous 1997 VMAs acceptance speech, industry antagonist Fiona Apple called the music world “bullshit.” In 1999, she found herself with another hit on her hands. MTV’s Total Request Live (aka TRL) dominated the music industry, which was defined by a new era of music video craze, high-profile personalities and pop music generally having the upper hand. It’s been 20 years since 1999, a truly weird and wonderful year for music, especially singles. As a wise man once said, the years start coming-and they don’t stop coming.
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