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.
Little Ways
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know just how to tear me up
And leave me in small pieces on the ground
You've got your little ways to hurt me
They're not too big but they're real tough
Just one cold look from you can knock me down
The pain that I've endured 'cause I won't let it show
My friends would laugh out loud if they only knew
The truth about how I am just your lovesick fool
'Cause you've got your little ways to hurt me
You know just how to tear me up
And leave me in small pieces on the ground
And you've got your little ways to hurt me
They're not too big but they're real tough
Just one cold look from you can knock me down
The sadness in my eyes should somehow be a clue
But no one here would ever suspect sweet little you
There've been rumors of the truth but I've kept it quiet
'Cause I'm too ashamed to let them know you make me cry
And you've got your little ways to hurt me
You know just how to tear me up
And leave me in small pieces on the ground
You've got your little ways to hurt me
They're not too big but they're real tough
Just one cold look from you can knock me down
Yeah, your little ways can knock me to the ground
The lyrics of Dwight Yoakam's "Little Ways" describe the pain that the singer feels due to the actions of their lover. The lover has a way of hurting the singer, and even though it may not seem like a big deal, it still cuts deep. The singer acknowledges that their friends would never suspect their truth - that they are in fact a lovesick fool who can be left in pieces by just one glance from the lover. The singer is too ashamed to admit to anyone how much the lover can make them cry.
The song is a heartbreaking representation of how love can often be toxic and leave people feeling vulnerable and lonely. The lyrics illustrate how someone can be completely swept up in their love for another and be willing to put up with their hurtful ways, even if it leaves them in tatters. The last line of the song "Yeah, your little ways can knock me to the ground" emphasizes how much power their lover has over them and how helpless they feel in the relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
You've got your little ways to hurt me
The person has unique ways to bring emotional pain and harm the singer's feelings.
You know just how to tear me up
The person is aware of how to cause emotional pain and is successful at it.
And leave me in small pieces on the ground
The person's actions cause the singer to feel broken and shattered.
They're not too big but they're real tough
Even the actions that seem minor in scale have a significant impact on the artist's emotions.
Just one cold look from you can knock me down
A single glance or action from the person can weaken the artist's emotional state and cause them to feel vulnerable.
To look at you and me, no one would ever know
The relationship between the singer and the person seems normal and harmless to outsiders.
The pain that I've endured 'cause I won't let it show
The singer has been keeping their emotional pain concealed and not sharing it with others.
My friends would laugh out loud if they only knew
The artist's friends would find it unbelievable that someone like the person could cause them so much emotional pain.
The truth about how I am just your lovesick fool
The artist is in love with the person despite the emotional pain they cause.
The sadness in my eyes should somehow be a clue
The artist's physical appearance shows signs of their emotional pain.
But no one here would ever suspect sweet little you
The person's innocent-looking demeanor and behavior hide their harmful actions from others.
There've been rumors of the truth but I've kept it quiet
There are speculations about what is happening between the artist and the person, but the artist has not revealed the truth to anyone.
'Cause I'm too ashamed to let them know you make me cry
The singer is embarrassed to admit that the person's actions cause them emotional pain and make them cry.
Yeah, your little ways can knock me to the ground
The person's actions are powerful enough to bring the singer down emotionally and leave them feeling defeated.
Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Written by: DWIGHT YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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