Divorce Served as The Inspiration For Dallas Frazier’s “There Goes My Everything”

Dallas Frazier’s first song in Nashville, “There Goes My Everything,” which was first a hit for Jack Greene in 1966 and was subsequently covered by Elvis Presley and Engelbert Humperdinck, turned out to be one of the biggest songs of his career. To Bart Herbison of the Nashville Songwriters Association International, Frazier related the tale of “Everything.”

How Did Dallas Frazier Get the Song, “There Goes My Everything?”

He claimed that it was the result of a divorce, thankfully not his, but that of Ferlin Husky, a close friend of Frazier. When he arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, he penned it as his debut song.

“Can country music be more heartfelt?”, wonders everyone who has ever heard Ferlin Husky’s original version of There Goes My Everything, a song full of grief and sung with a healthy dose of theatrical sarcasm. The answer must be yes, as every musician in the genre works daily to move their audience to tears. Whether it’s poor staging or personal anguish, songwriters use emotions to convey tales and connect with their audience on a deep level. But this song raises the bar.

The singer’s real pain served as the inspiration for the breakup drama described in the song. However, Ferlin Husky is not the author of this song. Dallas Frazier, who was 24 at the time, put “There Goes My Everything” to paper after briefly residing at Husky’s home in the winter of 1963/64 and witnessing firsthand how the musician’s divorce from his then-wife damaged the children.

Dallas Frazier’s “There Goes My Everything,” which has since had more than 150 cover versions, was first performed by Elvis Presley until Husky sang it for the first time in May 1966. Later that year, Jack Greene only had tremendous country chart success with the song.

Watch the video below featuring Dallas Frazier performing “There Goes My Everything” in The Marty Stuart Show.