“I wasn't ready to leave, and you weren't ready to let me go.
But love doesn't end when life on earth does.
So don't think of me as gone.
Think of me every time you hear a guitar, feel the ocean breeze, watch a Key West sunset, or laugh until your sides hurt.
That's where I'll be.
Always.”
At his own funeral, Carl Wagoner, known to most as musician “Caffeine Carl,” offered optimism, memories and music, always music. The words above were printed on the program for Wagoner’s funeral mass on Wednesday, July 15.
A sad quiet settled over Key West on July 9 as word spread that one of the island’s most beloved men and music makers had passed.
Carl Hilton Wagoner Sr. died just three days shy of his 60th birthday after a courageous battle with cancer.
Key West this week was still wrapping its collective mind around the daunting absence that was as large as the presence that was Caffeine Carl. The fact that Caffeine Carl would no longer appear on local stages with his guitars and scrunched-up face, shouting out to his wife, Erin, singing in memory of his mom and pausing mid-song to do a shot took some getting used to.
“Back before he stopped drinking, in the not-so-distant past, he would actually stop his song to drink. It was brilliant,” recalled fellow musician Tony Baltimore. “He’d open every show with a loud and high-pitched, ‘Hey, y’all,’ and he always, always gave a shout out to his mother before launching into his original song, ‘Mama Don’t Want Me Playing Guitar All Night Long.’”
“Whether you knew him from a stage on Duval Street, shared a drink or a laugh with him, worked beside him or simply crossed paths with him, chances are you walked away smiling,” Erin Wagoner wrote of her husband. “Although our hearts are broken beyond words, we find peace in knowing Carl is finally free from pain. His music may have fallen silent, but the memories he created, the friendships he built and the love he gave will echo throughout Key West for generations.
“Carl’s story will never truly end. Every song played on Duval Street, every sunset over Key West, every laugh shared among friends, and every memory told with a smile will keep his spirit alive.”
Godspeed, friend. Rest easy.
See next week’s Keys Weekly for photos of a proper Key West sendoff.
