This story of a woman exacting the ultimate revenge on a violent husband was written by Dennis Linde, who is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, "Burning Love." Linde had written several songs that included a character by the name of "Earl," most notably, "The Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer" by Sammy Kershaw and this track was an effort to kill off the "Earl" character. Linde also played acoustic guitar on the Dixie Chicks recording of the tune.
The murder ballad was originally discovered by the country music band Sons of the Desert and they began to perform it in concert planning to record it on their second album for Epic Records. At the same time, the Dixie Chicks (who were signed to another Sony division Monument Records), claimed "Goodbye Earl" as their own. Their version was recorded on their 1999 album Fly, and released as a single the following year peaking at #19 on the Hot 100. Sons of the Desert then entered a dispute with Sony over the song resulting in the band's departure from the label.
According to the liner notes, the "iffy harmony" vocals on the song were performed by the "Do-Wrongs" comprising the song's two co-producers: Blake Chancey and Paul Worley plus Dixie Chicks multi-instrumentalist Emily Robison's then husband, singer-songwriter Charlie Robison.
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