On the genius of Hayes Carll

Shame on me—I only just this past week listened to You Get It All, the indelible 2021 album from Hayes Carll.

I’ve been a Carll fan for some time and have never understood why he’s flown so under the radar. A handful of his songs—“Drunken Poet’s Dream,” “KMAG YOYO,” and “American Dream”—are among my favorite songs.

So, again, shame on me for not giving the most recent album a listen!

I felt guilt from the first verse-chorus, as it turns out:

God came down to Earth
To enjoy what She’d created
Took a fishing trip to Georgia
To see what She could see
Cast out a holy line
Thought She’d hooked a big one
Reeled in a oil barrel
And said, “Oh my me!”

This is why your whole world is on fire
This is why you can’t drink from your own springs
This is why, this is why, this is why, why, why
This is why y’all can’t have nice things

Several reviews mentioned the gaping shoes that John Prine left behind when he died, and suggested that Carll might more than capably fill them. Based on this tune alone, I tend to agree.