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.
I Sang Dixie
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The people just walked on by as I cried
The bottle had robbed him of all his rebel pride
I sang Dixie as he died
He said way down yonder in the land of cotton
Old times there ain't near as rotten as they are
On this damned old L.A. street
laid his head against my chest
Please Lord take his soul back home to Dixie
I sang Dixie as he died
The people just walked on by as I cried
The bottle had robbed him of all his rebel pride
So I sang Dixie as he died
He said listen to me son while you still can
Run back home to that Southern land
Don't you see what life here has done to me
Then he closed those old blue eyes
And fell limp against my side
No more pain, now he's safe back home in Dixie
I sang Dixie as he died
The people just walked on by as I cried
The bottle had robbed him of all his rebel pride
So I sang Dixie as he died
I sang Dixie as he died
The lyrics to Dwight Yoakam's "I Sang Dixie," tell the story of a man who watches his friend, a Southern rebel, die on the streets of Los Angeles. The man sings "Dixie" - the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy - as his friend passes away. The song explores the themes of homesickness and identity, as the dying man reminisces about his beloved Southern home and urges the singer to return there himself.
The opening lines of the song, "I sang Dixie as he died, the people just walked on by as I cried," highlight the theme of indifference. The singer's friend, a symbol of the proud Southern spirit, is dying in a foreign land, and yet nobody seems to care. The use of "Dixie" as a form of mourning is also significant. The song portrays it as a way for the dying man to reconnect with his Southern roots and find solace as he passes away.
The significance of "Dixie" as a symbol of Southern identity is emphasized further in the closing lines of the song. The dying man urges the singer to return to the South because "Old times there ain't near as rotten as they are on this damned old L.A. street." The man sees himself as a victim of the modern world, where he has lost his sense of identity and belonging. By singing "Dixie" at the moment of his death, the man reclaims that identity and finds peace.
Overall, "I Sang Dixie" is a powerful meditation on identity, belonging, and the power of music to express those emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
I sang Dixie as he died
The singer sings Dixie, a symbol of the Confederate South, as his friend dies in his arms.
The people just walked on by as I cried
Despite his visible distress, no one stops or helps the singer as he mourns his friend's passing.
The bottle had robbed him of all his rebel pride
Alcohol had taken away the friend's spirit and pride in his Southern heritage.
He said way down yonder in the land of cotton
The friend reminisces about the South, where cotton was grown and life was simpler.
Old times there ain't near as rotten as they are
He believes that the past was better and more pure than the reality of his present day in Los Angeles.
On this damned old L.A. street
The location of the friend's death, which the singer finds regrettable.
he drew a dying breath
The friend's last breath before passing away in the singer's arms.
laid his head against my chest
The friend physically relies on the artist for comfort and support in his final moments.
Please Lord take his soul back home to Dixie
The artist pleads for the friend's soul to be taken back to the South and rest in peace.
He said listen to me son while you still can
The friend implores the artist to learn from his mistakes and return to the South before it is too late.
Run back home to that Southern land
The friend advises the singer to go back to their Southern roots, where life and values are simpler.
Don't you see what life here has done to me
The friend warns the artist of the negative effects of Los Angeles life, such as his own downfall.
Then he closed those old blue eyes
The friend peacefully passes away with his eyes closed.
And fell limp against my side
The friend's body goes lifeless and leans against the singer's side.
No more pain, now he's safe back home in Dixie
The singer finds solace in the fact that his friend is no longer suffering and has found peace in the afterlife in the South.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: DWIGHT YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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