"Goodbye Earl", written by Dennis Linde, is a country murder ballad. Initially recorded by the band Sons of the Desert for an unreleased album in the late 1990s, the song gained fame when it was recorded by Dixie Chicks on their fifth studio album, Fly. After charting from unsolicited airplay in late 1999, the song was released as that album's third single in 2000, peaking at #13 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The CD single includes a 'B-Side' cover of "Stand By Your Man" by Tammy Wynette. In 2021, it was listed at No. 469 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".

Dennis Linde was an American musician and songwriter based in Nashville who has had over 250 of his songs recorded. He is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley song, "Burning Love", an international hit that has been featured in at least five motion pictures. In 1994, Linde won BMI's "Top Writer Award" and received four awards as BMI's most-performed titles for that year. He never liked publicity, and shunned awards shows to the extent of having family members collect his awards for him. He wrote both words and music for most of his songs, rarely collaborating with co-writers. He earned 14 BMI "Million-Air" songs. In 2001, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.