Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky, the son of Ruth Ann, a key-punch operator, and David Yoakam, a gas-station owner. He was raised in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Columbus's Northland High School in 1974. During his high school years, he excelled in both music and drama, regularly securing the lead role in school plays, such as "Charlie" in a stage version of Flowers for Algernon, honing his skills under the guidance of teacher-mentors Jerry McAfee (music) and Charles Lewis (drama). Outside of school, Yoakam sang and played guitar with local garage bands, and entertained his friends and classmates with his impersonations, such as Richard Nixon, who, at the time, was heavily embroiled in the Watergate controversy.
Yoakam briefly attended Ohio State University, but dropped out and moved to Nashville in 1977 with the intent of becoming a recording artist. Later on, Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, West Virginia awarded and presented Dwight with an honorary doctorate degree on May 7, 2005.
When he began his career, Nashville was oriented toward pop "urban cowboy" music, and Yoakam's brand of hip honky tonk music was not considered marketable.
Not making much headway in Nashville, Yoakam moved to Los Angeles and worked towards bringing his particular brand of new Honky Tonk or "Hillbilly" music (as he called it) forward into the 1980s. Writing all his own songs, and continuing to perform mostly outside traditional country music channels, Yoakam did many shows in rock and punk rock clubs around Los Angeles, playing with roots rock or punk rock acts like The Blasters (Yoakam scored a small video hit with his version of their song "Long White Cadillac"), Los Lobos, and X. This helped him diversify his audience beyond the typical country music fans, and his authentic, groundbreaking music is often credited with rock audiences accepting country music.
Yoakam's recording debut was the self-financed EP Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. on independent label Oak Records produced by lead-guitarist Pete Anderson; this was later re-released by Reprise records, with several additional tracks, as his major-label debut LP, 1986's Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. It launched his career. "Honky Tonk Man", a remake of the Johnny Horton song, and "Guitars, Cadillacs" were hit singles. His stylish video "Honky Tonk Man" was the first country music video ever played on MTV. The follow-up LP, Hillbilly Deluxe, was just as successful. His third LP, Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room, included his first No. 1, a duet with his musical idol, Buck Owens, on "Streets of Bakersfield". 1990's If There Was a Way was another best-seller.
Yoakam's song "Readin', Rightin', Route 23" pays tribute to his childhood move from Kentucky, and is named after a local expression describing the route that rural Kentuckians took to find a job outside of the coal mines. (U.S. Route 23 runs north from Kentucky through Columbus and Toledo, Ohio and through the automotive centers of Michigan.) Rather than the standard line that their elementary schools taught "the three Rs" of "Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rithmetic", Kentuckians used to say that the three Rs they learned were "Readin', 'Ritin, and Route 23 North".
Johnny Cash once cited Yoakam as his favorite country singer. Chris Isaak called him as good a songwriter that ever put a pen to paper. Time Magazine dubbed Yoakam "A Renaissance Man" and Vanity Fair declared that "Yoakam strides the divide between rock's lust and country's lament." Along with his bluegrass and honky-tonk roots, Yoakam has written or covered many Elvis Presley-style rockabilly songs, including his covers of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in 1999 and Presley's "Suspicious Minds" in 1992. He recorded a cover of The Clash's "Train in Vain" in 1997, a cover of the Grateful Dead song "Truckin'", as well as Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me". Yoakam has never been associated only with Country music; on many early tours, he played with Hardcore Punk bands like Hüsker Dü, and played many shows around Los Angeles with Roots/Punk/Rock & Roll acts. His middle-period-to-later records saw him branching out to different styles, covering Rock & Roll, Punk, 1960's, Blues-based "Boogie" like ZZ Top, and writing more adventurous songs like "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere". In 2003, he provided background vocals on Warren Zevon's last album The Wind.
In the 21st century, Yoakam released dwightyoakamacoustic.net, an album featuring solo acoustic versions of many of his hits; left his major label and started his own label.
2005 saw the release of Yoakam's well-reviewed album Blame the Vain, on New West Records. Yoakam also released an album dedicated to Buck Owens, Dwight Sings Buck, on October 23, 2007. His duet with Michelle Branch, a song titled "Long Goodbye", was released as a free download on Branch's official website in early 2011.
In July 2011, Yoakam re-signed with Warner Bros. Nashville and announced plans to release a new album. 3 Pears was released on September 18, 2012 with twelve new tracks. The album, produced by Yoakam, includes collaborations with Kid Rock, Beck, and Ashley Monroe. 3 Pears was released to resounding critical acclaim and earned Yoakam the highest-charting debut of his career on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Country Albums charts. 3 Pears reached #1 on the Americana Radio chart on October 29, 2012 and went on to break the 2012 record for most weeks at #1 on Americana Radio.[4] By the end of 2012, the album was named on annual best of lists by NPR, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, AOL's The Boot, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, and Rhapsody, and has been included in more critic's "best of 2012" lists than any other artist in the country genre.
Yoakam won the Grammy Award for "Best Male Country Vocal Performance" in 1993 for the song "Ain't That Lonely Yet". He was also named "Artist of the Year" by CMT Europe in 1993 and given the International Touring Artist Award by CMA in 2007.
In 2011, Yoakam received the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award for his trailblazing achievements in the country music genre.
1000 Miles
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be
I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be
Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I
I got bruises on my memory
I got tear stains on my hands
And in the mirror there's a vision
Of what used to be a man
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be
Oh I'm
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
I'm a thousand, I'm a thousand, I'm a thousand
The lyrics of Dwight Yoakam's song "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" express a feeling of isolation and loneliness that comes with being away from the ones you love. The singer describes himself as "a thousand miles from nowhere" and suggests that time doesn't matter because there's no place he wants to be. The feeling of being disconnected from the world is further emphasized by the repetition of the phrase "I'm a thousand miles from nowhere".
The singer then goes on to describe the emotional baggage he carries with him. He has "heartaches in my pocket" and "echoes in my head". The memories of past pain and hurtful things that were said to him by someone he loved are haunting him. The bruises on his memory and tear stains on his hands suggest that he's been through a lot of pain and is still struggling to deal with it. The last line about looking in the mirror and seeing "a vision of what used to be a man" suggests that he's lost a part of himself because of his emotional struggles.
Overall, "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" is a powerful and emotional song that expresses the pain and loneliness that can come with being isolated from the ones you love. It's a poignant reminder that time and distance cannot always heal the emotional wounds of the past.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
The singer is feeling lost and alone, both physically and emotionally.
Time don't matter to me
The singer is so consumed by his feelings of loneliness and heartache that time doesn't seem to have any meaning for him.
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
The singer is emphasizing that he feels completely isolated and disconnected from the world around him.
And there's no place I want to be
The singer doesn't feel like there is anywhere in the world that could provide him with the solace or peace he is searching for.
I got heartaches in my pocket
The singer is carrying around the painful memories of his past relationships and regrets.
I got echoes in my head
The singer's painful memories and regrets are constantly replaying in his mind, like echoes.
And all that I keep hearing
The singer is consumed by his thoughts and feelings, and they are the only things that seem to matter to him.
Are the cruel cruel things that you said
The singer's memories are filled with the hurtful things that his ex-partner said to him.
I got bruises on my memory
The singer's painful memories have left their mark on him, much like physical bruises.
I got tear stains on my hands
The singer has been crying and wiping away his tears so often that his hands are stained by them.
And in the mirror there's a vision
The singer sees his own reflection in the mirror, but it is a distorted version of himself - a sad and broken man.
Of what used to be a man
The singer is acknowledging that his painful memories and heartache have changed him, and he doesn't feel like the same person he used to be.
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
The singer is emphasizing again how alone and disconnected he feels.
Time don't matter to me
The singer is so consumed by his feelings of loneliness and heartache that time doesn't seem to have any meaning for him.
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
The singer is emphasizing that he feels completely isolated and disconnected from the world around him.
And there's no place I want to be
The singer doesn't feel like there is anywhere in the world that could provide him with the solace or peace he is searching for.
Oh I'm
The singer is expressing a deep emotional pain with this exclamation.
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
The singer is emphasizing his lost and lonely state again.
I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
The singer is emphasizing his lost and lonely state again.
I'm a thousand, I'm a thousand, I'm a thousand
The singer is emphasizing the magnitude of the emotional distance that he feels from everything and everyone in his life.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Dwight Yoakam
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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