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.
If Teardrops Were Diamonds
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And only mine were used
They could pave every highway
Coast to coast and not be close to through
If teardrops were diamonds, cold blue
If heartaches were rubies
Stacked up just like stones
Ten miles high, built by mine alone
If heartaches were rubies, mine alone
You might begin to understand
The price love has to pay, for being wrong
If sad thoughts were emeralds
And with not countin', in between
Just half the ones I've had today
Could turn the whole world green
If sad thoughts were emeralds
And the world turned green
You might just, get the message that
There's more to loneliness, than can be seen
If teardrops were diamonds
And only mine were used
Dwight Yoakam's song "If Teardrops Were Diamonds" is a heartbreaking ballad about the aftermath of a love gone wrong. The opening lines, "If teardrops were diamonds and only mine were used, they could pave every highway, coast to coast and not be close to through," convey the idea that the sheer number of tears shed during a breakup could pave an eternity of roads. The next verse introduces the notion that heartaches are as plentiful as rubies, and that the singer’s own pile of heartaches could build a mountain ten miles high. He makes it clear that the costly toll of loss falls on those who misstep in love, with the lyric, “You might begin to understand the price love has to pay for being wrong.”
As the song continues, it is clear that the singer has been struggling with loneliness and sadness, with "sad thoughts" becoming emeralds that could "turn the whole world green." This turn of phrase reflects on how the singer's inner anguish colors their perception of the world. The song concludes where it started: with the idea that tears are both ubiquitous and valuable, but in a way that highlights their painful inevitability.
In summary, “If Teardrops Were Diamonds” is an emotional exploration of both the universality of heartbreak and the intense loneliness that can come with it. The song's poetic imagery conjures the arresting image of teardrops paving the way to an uncertain future where heartache looms large.
Line by Line Meaning
If teardrops were diamonds
Imagining a scenario where emotional pain and suffering can be transformed into valuable precious stones
And only mine were used
The singer is emphasizing on his exclusive relationship and pain, as if nobody else in the world has ever experienced such agony.
They could pave every highway
The amount of pain the singer has is so much that if all his tears were transformed into diamonds, they could be used to make roads that go on forever.
Coast to coast and not be close to through
The artist's pain is so vast that it could pave the whole world's roads endlessly, and still, it wouldn't be enough to describe the depth of his agony.
If teardrops were diamonds, cold blue
The color blue refers to sadness and melancholy. Here, it refers to the fact that the pain the artist suffers is overwhelming and soul-crushing.
If heartaches were rubies
The singer imagines that heartaches could be transformed into rubies, which is another valuable precious stone.
Stacked up just like stones
The singer feels that he has so much emotional pain that if all his heartaches could be transformed into rubies and stacked together, they would make a mountain-like structure.
There would be a mountain
The amount of pain the artist feels is so much that all the rubies stacked together could form a large mountain-like structure.
Ten miles high, built by mine alone
The artist again emphasizes his exclusive relationship with pain and heartaches, as if nobody else in the world has ever experienced such agony. He feels like he has a mountain of pain that he has built himself.
You might begin to understand
The artist wants the listener to imagine what it's like to have so much pain and heartaches to understand the price of love.
The price love has to pay, for being wrong
The singer hints at the fact that his pain and heartaches stem from a failed relationship where love has gone wrong, and the price he has paid for it is too high.
If sad thoughts were emeralds
The artist imagines what it would be if all his sad thoughts could be transformed into emeralds, which is another valuable precious stone.
And with not countin', in between
The singer has so many sad thoughts that he has lost count, and there are many uncountable gaps in between. His sadness is so overwhelming that he can't even keep track of how many sad thoughts he has.
Just half the ones I've had today
Even if only half of the sad thoughts he had on one particular day were transformed into emeralds, they could turn the whole world green, emphasizing the vastness of his sadness.
Could turn the whole world green
If only a small fraction of all his sad thoughts were transformed into valuable emeralds, they could be used to turn the whole world green, once again showcasing the depth of his pain.
You might just, get the message that
The artist hints that if others could see how much hurt he has gone through, they might begin to understand the depth of his pain.
There's more to loneliness, than can be seen
The phrase implies that loneliness is more than just superficial sadness and the surface level meaning. Instead, it's a vast and overwhelming feeling that can't be described in words or precious stones.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DWIGHT DAVID YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mac Mcclellan
I'd give it a 6. They are both fantastic. 😊
Larry Anderson
If dwight and Willie fans were diamonds then I'd be the hope diamond.💖
Romulo Tristao
No comment, the two are fantastic.
EL505
8 thumbs up? Are you shitting me?!? After a year, nobody can contribute to this song?!? I guess people don’t know good country music anymore! This is depressing !
Shell HonkyTonk
Love
BestClassicCountryMusic
Thanks Shell HonkyTonk ..really glad you found these wonderful Dwight Yoakam songs..glad you enjoyed...Dan
Gosper420TYVS
Good morning Dan thank you and have a blessed day all . Love , Light & Peace ❤️💯👍
BestClassicCountryMusic
Isn't this a great duo? Glad you like too David G...Take care have a wonderful weekend with you and yours...Dan
Marryann Lamb
Thanks Dan Glen will be happy . Hey brother see you when you get here.
jim smith
if only she knew how much