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.”
She Left Me for Jesus
Hayes Carll Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We never once left this town
We use to go out on the weekends
And we''d drink til we drowned
But now she's acting funny and I don't understand
I think that she's found her, some other man
[Chorus]
She says that he's perfect, how could I compare
She says I should find him and I'll know peace at last
If I ever find Jesus, I'm kickin' his ass
She showed me a picture, all I could do was stare
At that freak in his sandals with his long pretty hair
They must think that I'm stupid or I don't have a clue
Ill bet hes a commie, or ever worse yet a Jew
[Chorus]
She's given up whiskey and takin' up wine
While she prays for his troubles, had forgot about mine
I'm a gonna get even, I can't handle the shame
Why last time we made love, she even called out his name
[Chorus]
It coulda been Carlos or even Billy or Ted
But if I ever find Jesus
He's gonna wish he was dead, amen
The lyrics of Hayes Carll's song She Left Me For Jesus tell the story of a man who's been dating his girlfriend since high school but recently, he discovers that she has left him for Jesus. The man and his girlfriend used to enjoy drinking and partying together every weekend, but now she's acting strangely and has found comfort in Jesus. However, the man is not happy about this and feels that he cannot compare to Jesus. He even goes as far as saying that if he ever finds Jesus, he'll kick his ass.
The song has a catchy tone that will make you think it is just a fun, mocking tune, but it is actually a witty satire that critiques religious fanaticism. The main character in the song feels threatened and jealous that his girlfriend has found solace in religion and is no longer paying attention to him. This can be seen in the lyrics where he believes that Jesus is either a "commie" or a "Jew" and that he is not as perfect as his girlfriend thinks he is. The chorus emphasizes his pain that he was left for Jesus and how he wishes to find him to take revenge.
Overall, the song is a witty commentary on religious fanaticism and how it can affect personal relationships. The man's desperation and frustration are skillfully crafted in the lyrics, and the chorus is quite catchy.
Line by Line Meaning
We've been datin' since high school
We have been in a relationship since high school.
We never once left this town
We have never gone out of town together.
We use to go out on the weekends
We used to go out on weekends.
And we''d drink til we drowned
We would drink heavily until we could not anymore.
But now she's acting funny and I don't understand
She is acting weird, and I am not sure why.
I think that she's found her, some other man
I believe that she has found another man.
She left me for Jesus and that just ain't fair
She broke up with me to date Jesus, and I don't think that is fair.
She says that he's perfect, how could I compare
She claims that Jesus is perfect, and I cannot measure up to him.
She says I should find him and I'll know peace at last
She thinks that if I find Jesus, I will find peace.
If I ever find Jesus, I'm kickin' his ass
If I ever meet Jesus, I will beat him up.
She showed me a picture, all I could do was stare
She showed me a picture of Jesus, and I was surprised.
At that freak in his sandals with his long pretty hair
I found it weird that he wears sandals and has long, pretty hair.
They must think that I'm stupid or I don't have a clue
They may assume that I am unaware or foolish.
Ill bet hes a commie, or ever worse yet a Jew
I am guessing that he may be a communist, or even worse, a Jew.
She's given up whiskey and takin' up wine
She has stopped drinking whiskey and started drinking wine.
While she prays for his troubles, had forgot about mine
While she prays for his problems, she has forgotten about mine.
I'm a gonna get even, I can't handle the shame
I will seek revenge because I am unable to handle this embarrassment.
Why last time we made love, she even called out his name
During our last intimate moment, she called out Jesus' name.
It coulda been Carlos or even Billy or Ted
She could have left me for any other man.
But if I ever find Jesus
However, if I ever meet Jesus
He's gonna wish he was dead, amen
I will make him regret meeting me, amen.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: BRIAN KEENE, HAYES CARLL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alan Helms
Brilliant. Thank you Hayes.
Zim Ryu
The references and irreverence woven into this song are well done and very funny.
Paige Bourquin
I love this. My teacher sang this for us today. :D
melaneefabbri
Love it!
Anne Brooks
I love this!!
danny stenback
love this !!!!!!
Sarah C
Never fail to make me laugh LOL!!!
Punisher 83
love it
earlsboro1
This song relays the message of the life of my Savior and why I follow him
Paula G Whyte
I am my saviour. It feels great. Don't need an imaginary friend. Who is your saviour?