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.
Ain
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You say you're all alone
Well that's real sad
And you keep leavin'
Notes stuck on my door
Guess you're hungry for some more
Girl that's too bad
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
No I ain't that lonely yet
After what you put me through
I ain't that lonely yet
Once there was this spider in my bed
I got caught up in her web
Of love and lies
She spun her chains around my heart and soul
Never to let go
Oh but I survived
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
No I ain't that lonely yet
After what you put me through
I ain't that lonely yet
There's nothing left that you can do
To try and bring me 'round
'Cause everything you do
Just brings me down
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
No I ain't that lonely yet
After what you put me through
I ain't that lonely yet
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
No I ain't that lonely yet
After what you put me through
No I ain't that lonely yet
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
No I ain't that lonely yet
After what you put me through
No I ain't that lonely yet
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
No I ain't that lonely yet
The lyrics of Dwight Yoakam's song Ain't That Lonely Yet describe a man who has been hurt by a former lover and is now being pursued by her again. The singer of the song is not interested in rekindling the relationship, as he has moved on and his ex's attempts to contact him are falling on deaf ears. The lyrics suggest that the man is strong-willed and not willing to be pulled back in by his ex's advances, even though she seems desperate and lonely without him. The chorus, "I ain't that lonely yet," is a defiant declaration of the man's independence and his ability to stand on his own despite his ex's attempts to draw him back in.
The analogy of the spider in the singer's bed is used to describe the former relationship. The spider lured him in with "love and lies" and "spun her chains" around his heart and soul. However, he eventually freed himself from her grasp and survived. The spider being female is likely a nod to the traditional portrayal of spiders capturing male mates before killing them.
Line by Line Meaning
You keep calling me on the telephone
You constantly contact me through phone calls
You say you're all alone
You claim to be lonely
Well that's real sad
Sorry to hear that
And you keep leavin'
You persistently leave
Notes stuck on my door
You place messages on my door
Guess you're hungry for some more
You desire more from me
Girl that's too bad
Unfortunately, I cannot provide that
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
I'm not feeling very lonely
No, I ain't that lonely yet
I'm really not feeling very lonely
After what you put me through
After the negative experiences I had because of you
Once there was this spider in my bed
I had encountered a spider in my bed
I got caught up in her web
I became trapped in her trap
Of love and lies
Full of deceitful feelings and words
She spun her chains around my heart and soul
She wrapped me up with her emotional hold
Never to let go
Refusing to release me
Oh, but I survived
Despite everything, I'm still here
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
I'm not feeling very lonely
No, I ain't that lonely yet
I'm really not feeling very lonely
There's nothing left that you can do
There's nothing more you can attempt
To try and bring me 'round
To try and convince me to change my mind
'Cause everything you do
All of your actions
Just brings me down
Only makes me feel worse
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
I'm not feeling very lonely
No, I ain't that lonely yet
I'm really not feeling very lonely
After what you put me through
After the negative experiences I had because of you
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
I'm not feeling very lonely
No, I ain't that lonely yet
I'm really not feeling very lonely
After what you put me through
After the negative experiences I had because of you
'Cause I ain't that lonely yet
I'm not feeling very lonely
No, I ain't that lonely yet
I'm really not feeling very lonely
After what you put me through
After the negative experiences I had because of you
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Kostas Lazarides, James House
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Sarabethd
Who's visiting this gem in 2024?
@CMH4U
One of my coworkers hooked me up with Dwight decades ago ! I love this song 💃🏾 I never stopped listening all these years later it sounds as good as it did back then !
@coreyabell6332
Nope actually 1995
@coreyabell6332
@@bruinruin591 Who me?
@randyjacobson7317
Ohh man, love this song! Wish I could sing!
@ddaugherty58
Will always play Dwight, love his originality 🎸
@stever5359
We saw him in concert last night. He’s 67 years old and he still rocks a stellar voice, amazing.
@greghawkman
He sings the way my soul would sing if it could.
@jessedphillips
Does he still do the three dances he does? He's awesome!
@Dane_Youssef
He has two Grammys and an Academy of Country Music award for those damn vocals of his. Not to mention countless nominations as well. So... no surprise there.