Earle was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, and grew up near San Antonio, Texas. His father, Jack Earle, was an air traffic controller. Although he was born in Virginia where his father was stationed, the family returned to Texas before Earle's second birthday. They moved several times but Earle grew up primarily in the San Antonio area.
Earle began learning the guitar at the age of 11 and placed in a talent contest at his school at age 13. He is reported to have run away from home at age 14 to follow his idol, singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt around Texas. Earle was "rebellious" as a youngster and dropped out of school at the age of 16. He moved to Houston with his 19-year-old uncle, who was also a musician, where he married and worked odd jobs. While in Houston Earle finally met Van Zandt, who became his hero and role model.
In 1975, at the age of 20, Earle moved to Nashville and began working as a songwriter. In these early days, he recorded with Guy Clark and Emmylou Harris. He finally scored a country hit in 1981, writing Johnny Lee's top ten cut "When You Fall in Love." Earle's early work as a performer tended towards the rockabilly sound, popular at the time. In 1986, his first proper album Guitar Town was a critical and commercial success. It sold over 300,000 copies and led some to herald him as a saviour of country music.
Earle long struggled with drug abuse. His addiction eventually caused a departure from performing and recording after he was dropped by MCA in 1991. Whilst in jail on drug and firearm charges, he kicked the habit and returned to music after his release in 1994.
Earle's "second, post-jail, musical career" has been more stylistically diverse than his early material, dipping in acoustic, bluegrass, and roots rock sounds. I Feel Alright and Transcendental Blues met with good reviews and decent sales. 2002's somewhat controversial Jerusalem was one of the first albums to directly address the September 11 attacks. It brought Earle's leftist views to media attention, especially the song "John Walker's Blues."
His latest album of original material I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive was released in 2011. Songfacts reports that one of the tracks, This City, got played on HBO’s New Orleans based show Treme several months before the album‘s release. Earle, who plays a recurring street musician, composed the song especially for the drama series.
Earle has also released a tribute album of material written by friend and mentor Townes Van Zandt, entitled Townes.
For more information and photographs of Steve Earle go to his official website, www.SteveEarle.com.
Goodbye's All We've Got Left
Steve Earle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause I can smell it when a heartache's comin'
Not that I'm in such a hurry to lose you
I'd call you up but there's nothin' that I can do
Talkin' won't do any good anyway
'Cause goodbye's all we've got left to say
I don't think that it'll get any better
So maybe you could just write me a letter
Another ten or twelve years, maybe longer
Guess I just don't feel much like bad news today
Goodbye's all we've got left to say
Don't try to call me 'cause I'm takin' my phone out
'Cause if it rings, I'll know what it's about
And don't you worry 'bout me 'cause I'm alright
Maybe you'll run into me somewhere, some night
And if you do just keep goin' your way
Goodbye's all we've got left to say
In "Goodbye's All We've Got Left," Steve Earle sings about the heartache of a relationship coming to an inevitable end. The singer has a sense of premonition and knows that something bad is going to happen. The lyrics convey a resigned sense of acceptance and a desire to hold onto the last few moments with his partner. The singer expresses his helplessness in the situation by stating that there's nothing he can do to stop the relationship from ending, and talking won't do any good.
At the same time, the singer also acknowledges that staying in the relationship isn't going to make things any better. He suggests that it might be easier for both of them if his partner could just write him a letter and end things that way. He doesn't want to hear the bad news today and suggests that he might be stronger in the future. He tells his partner not to call him, and he's taking his phone out. If she does see him in the future, she should just keep going her way because goodbye is all that's left to say.
In summary, "Goodbye's All We've Got Left" is a song about the futility of trying to make something work when it's coming to an end. The lyrics convey a sense of resignation, but not necessarily regret.
Line by Line Meaning
Could tell it when I woke up this mornin'
I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today
'Cause I can smell it when a heartache's comin'
I have an intuition and can feel when something is going to end poorly
Not that I'm in such a hurry to lose you
While I don't want to lose you, I know it's inevitable
I'd call you up but there's nothin' that I can do
I want to talk to you, but I know there's no point
Talkin' won't do any good anyway
Words won't change what's going to happen
'Cause goodbye's all we've got left to say
We've reached the end of our relationship and all we can say is goodbye
I don't think that it'll get any better
I don't have any hope that our situation will improve
So maybe you could just write me a letter
I don't want to talk about our goodbye, maybe writing a letter would be easier
And I could open it up when I'm stronger
I don't want to face our goodbye while I'm feeling weak, I'll read the letter when I'm stronger
Another ten or twelve years, maybe longer
It might be a long time before I'm over our goodbye
Guess I just don't feel much like bad news today
I'm not in the mood to hear anything negative today
Goodbye's all we've got left to say
We have nothing else to say except goodbye
Don't try to call me 'cause I'm takin' my phone out
I don't want to talk about our goodbye, so I'm taking my phone out to avoid calls
'Cause if it rings, I'll know what it's about
If the phone rings, I know it's about our impending goodbye
And don't you worry 'bout me 'cause I'm alright
I'll be alright, so please don't worry about me
Maybe you'll run into me somewhere, some night
Perhaps we'll run into each other by chance one night
And if you do just keep goin' your way
If we do run into each other, let's just keep going our separate ways
Goodbye's all we've got left to say
Our goodbye is final and there's nothing else we can say to each other
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: STEVE EARLE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@markradzwion5547
Sound as good live as they do on the album for cripes sake. Guitar Town was one of the best albums out there. Put that on in the car while you're driving, and every song flows down the road.
@borisstone9732
Mark Radzwion Damn right!
@wildestcowboy2668
Especially when you are on a fist full of Norco 10'$ like stevo was here!
@snorrejnnevaldhalvorsen6548
Not much beats Guitar Town !
@maryfizer9030
⚘Oh yeah! I will never get to bed! He is just thrilling me with his voice& songs.💥🔥😇🎸🎶💥🙏
@jobennett7011
Dang, Steve! Rocked my world back in the day!!
@yelizaveta1278
I heard him randomly on the radio the other day ... and whoo, girl - throwback thoughts and memories!
Had to hear (& see;-) a lil more!
@mrtv777
Dang. What a live version!
@maxquinn3103
Saw the Dukes Copper Head Tour Manchester Academy they nailed it go boys 🎉
@ellenfransen1825
He is so intense in his performing his songs and playing his guitar.
I listen to him and watching him since a few days and I love it. But his looks have changed so much thtough the years. Beginning with when he was "19" years old till now. I have seen on this U-tube