Carll has toured relentlessly in North America and abroad (performing over two hundred shows a year), founded a successful singer-songwriter music festival on the Gulf Coast of Texas, secured a record deal with Lost Highway Records, and has even seen his album Little Rock become the first self-released album to reach #1 on the Americana Music Chart.
"When I started, I moved down to this place called Crystal Beach, Texas where you need to take a ferry from Galveston across the bay to get to this little peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico," recalls Carll, who grew up just outside Houston. "It's this isolated coastal community with a wild assortment of people either hiding out, hanging on or getting lost-- a lot of drugs and drinking, a fair amount of violence, but at the same time a lot of really interesting people with great stories to tell. Folks in the bars there weren't necessarily interested in what I had to say as a songwriter-- they wanted to hear David Allan Coe and Merle Haggard, and other stuff they knew. So that's what I did six nights a week for four years. I haven't run into tougher crowds since. It was an initiation into becoming a performer."
Those experiences not only gave Carll a thick skin, they gave him plenty of material to spin into songs like the low-slung, finger-picked blues "I Got a Gig" -- populated by characters like the "barefoot shrimper with a pistol up his sleeve" -- and the tear-in-your-beer waltz "Beaumont," in which a suitor bearing a single white rose makes a fruitless trip to try to win over a lady love. Carll says of the latter tune. "I like to try to tackle a heavy topic but do it with a light touch. The more personal, weightier stuff doesn't come as easy, even though that's what I like to think about the most."
Carll has developed that touch over a long stretch that began when he was still in his teens, a stretch he spent writing poems, short stories and songs by the notebook-full. He eventually discovered that the last of those three flowed from him most easily, and while he dutifully headed off to college, he spent more time strumming and singing. To hear him tell it, "I sort of sabotaged my career options to the point where, by the time I was out of school, I was pretty much unemployable and had no choice but to be a musician."
After moving to the Gulf Coast, Carll honed his craft in the area bars and beer-joints as well as more serious folk clubs like the venerable Old Quarter in Galveston, where he opened for a wide array of respected songwriters such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willis Alan Ramsay and many others. By 2002, he was ready to unleash his recorded indie debut, Flowers and Liquor, which, while not widely distributed, garnered plenty of critical praise, including American Songwriter's claim that the disc "suggests the young Texan might be the next great songwriter from a state full of maestros."
He lived up to that praise on his next outing, Little Rock, an offering on which Carll showed off his stylistic breadth by steering his band from searing rock to jazz-tinged balladry -- a scope that earned praise both at home and across the pond, where the Irish Times raved "This is the first mighty country record of the year, a bruised, bedraggled affair full of jagged memories and wry observations."
On his 2008 album Trouble In Mind, there's a much sharper focus to the material, thanks in part, to more time in the studio and some great players sure to be familiar to roots-rock aficionados, including, Dan Baird, Darrell Scott, Will Kimbrough and former Flying Burrito Brother Al Perkins.
“My first record I did in five days, and my second one we did in twelve," Carll explains. "This time around I had a solid month, so it was really a luxury. It was amazing to get all these talented people in the room and have them listen to me describe my vision and then go out and try to realize that and capture it on tape. My strength isn't that I have the world's most amazing voice or that I'm this incredible player -- hopefully it's that there's some aspect of my personality and my lyrics that people can relate to."
Carll’s personality, emotional but never too sentimental, mischievous, funny, world-weary and sardonic, imbues every track of Trouble in Mind. He’s never afraid to be vulnerable and direct, as on one of the standout tracks, “Willing to Love Again” - “I feel too much, I protect too much, most times I probably expect too much. I spend my life on this broken crutch, and you believe I can fly.”
Carll's 2011 album KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) was The album includes "Another Like You," a duet with Cary Ann Hearst The L.A. Times described the album as "Carll is every bit as expressive a singer as he is a writer, drawling his trenchant observations with deceptive ease."
Carll’s live performances continue to win over fans everywhere. His clever, irreverent lyrics and sharp observations combined with his warm Texas drawl make his stories and anecdotes as compelling and entertaining as his songs. There’s that sweet taste of honey followed with the sharp sting of a wisecrack. Never is that tongue-in-cheek humor more obvious than on the red neck rant “She Left Me For Jesus”, where a clueless lover is upset and suspicious over the changes in his girlfriend. “Now she’s acting funny and I don’t understand. I think that she’s found her some other man. She’s left me for Jesus, and that just ain’t fair. She says that he’s perfect, how can I compare?” “You know I’m always a little nervous when I sing that song. Like Ray Wiley Hubbard says, the problem with irony is that people don’t always get it.”
Good Friends
Hayes Carll Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hey, hey, where did all my good friends goMaybe someplace far awayWhere did all my good friends go
Well doug he went to prison for sellin' all his potAnd rick's in california bein' somethin' that he's not And rob he went to law school, we're all glad he didBut eveytime I call I end up talking to his kid
Repeat chorus
Well bo he joined the navy, to run around and drinkBut they finally let him go, after six months in the brink And rich he went to college, he's workin' night and dayHe's been there almost 9 years, but he'll get out someday
Repeat chorus
Bridge:
And I understand, that people they changeGrow up and move awayBut oh how I wish, oh how I wish, that all my good friends...Could be here today
But jimmy got a real job, workin' nine to fiveEvery once in a while I call him, make sure he's still aliveAnd mikey took some time, and found out he way gayI didn't have the heart to tell him that we all knew anyway
Repeat chorus
Where did all myGood friendsGo
The lyrics to Hayes Carll's song "Good Friends" express the songwriter's lament for the friendships that have been lost or have changed over the years. The song nostalgically recalls the good old days when they would skip school and drink beer without a care in the world, confident that a drink would always make everything better. The song then proceeds to mention the names of each of his friends and what happened to them over time. Doug went to prison for selling pot, Rick moved to California where he pretended to be someone he's not, Rob went to law school and became a responsible adult, Bo joined the Navy but was discharged after just six months, Rich went to college for nine long years, and Jimmy got a real job while Mikey came out as gay. Carll sings out the chorus several times, echoing the theme of his longing for his old friends and remembering the question he keeps asking himself, "Where did all my good friends go?"
The lyrics of "Good Friends" speak to anyone who has had a group of friends who have moved away or changed, leaving their old selves behind. Carll's song expresses a bittersweet sense of nostalgia for his youthful years, but also recognizes that change is inevitable, and people have to move on with their lives. On one level, the song is about growing up, but it is also about the bonds of friendship that connect people and carry them through life's ups and downs. This song captures the essence of how we try to hold on to memories of the past, and that friends are forever, even if they are not always around.
Line by Line Meaning
We used to run around skippin' school and drinkin' beer
In the past, we used to skip school activities to indulge in drinking alcohol with friends.
One drink and the good lord would get us out of here
A single drink of alcohol would make us feel relieved of every stress.
But now those days are gone, and everything has changed
Life has lost its previous excitement and everything is now different.
It's all been turned around, everybody's rearranged
The current friends we have are not the same as before and everything is now different.
Hey, hey, where did all my good friends go
Wondering where all the former companions have gone since nobody is reachable.
Maybe someplace far away
It's possible that they are far off and not in touch anymore.
Well doug he went to prison for sellin' all his pot
Doug got jailed for drug trafficking.
And rick's in california bein' somethin' that he's not
Rick has changed his persona after moving to California.
And rob he went to law school, we're all glad he did
Rob pursued law studies, and it's worth celebrating.
But eveytime I call I end up talking to his kid
Every time an attempt is made to contact Rob, it's his child who is on the other end of the phone.
Repeat chorus
Repeating the refrain, 'where did all my good friends go'.
Well bo he joined the navy, to run around and drink
Bo joined the navy to have fun and enjoy drinking with the comrades.
But they finally let him go, after six months in the brink
Bo didn't last long in the military and was dismissed after half a year.
And rich he went to college, he's workin' night and day
Rich is currently attending college and works tirelessly all night.
He's been there almost 9 years, but he'll get out someday
Rich has been in college close to a decade but will eventually graduate.
And I understand, that people they change
The realization that change is inevitable.
Grow up and move away
Maturity and outgrowing the habits done during the younger years.
But oh how I wish, oh how I wish, that all my good friends...
Despite knowing changes happen, there's still the desire to have back the previous good friends.
Could be here today
Wishing that the estranged friends were present today.
But jimmy got a real job, workin' nine to five
Jimmy found a full-time job and works from 9 to 5.
Every once in a while I call him, make sure he's still alive
Occasionally making contact with Jimmy to see if he's alright.
And mikey took some time, and found out he way gay
Mikey needed some alone time and discovered he was homosexual.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that we all knew anyway
The singer knew that Mikey was gay, but didn't have the courage to tell him despite it being common knowledge.
Repeat chorus
Repeating 'where did all my good friends go'.
Where did all myGood friendsGo
The lingering question, 'Where did all my good friends go?'.
Contributed by Bailey H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.