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.
Long Way To Go
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Til dreamin' is the only thing that's true
Yeah wishin' is only wishin'
Till my only thoughts' the wish to be with you
I've got a long way to go before I get there
I've got a lot of field to hoe with the sun so high
Got a lot of miles to roll
That there is still such a long way to go
Hopin' doesn't feel like hopin'
If I can feel your heart hopin' too
Oh touchin' doesn't feel like touchin'
Until I feel the next touch from you
I've got a long way to go before I get there
I've got a lot of field to hoe with the sun so high
I've got a lot of miles to roll
And the next few only show
That there is still such a long way to go
Wanting just keeps me wanting
The next and last both keep me wanting you
Oh and waiting just keeps me waiting
Until there's no more waiting left to do
I've got a long way to go before I get there
I've got a lot of field to hoe with the sun so high
I've got a lot of miles to roll
And the next few only show
That there's still such a long way to go
Oh I've got a lot of miles to roll
And the next few only show
That there's still such a long way to go
Dwight Yoakam's "A Long Way Home" is a song about longing and the pursuit of love. The opening lines suggest that dreaming and wishing are not enough to make something a reality; actions must be taken to achieve one's desires. The singer acknowledges that he has a long journey ahead of him before he can accomplish his goal of being with the person he longs for. He has many obstacles to overcome, but he is determined to keep going. His belief in himself and his ability to keep moving forward despite hardship is evident in the line "got a lot of field to hoe with the sun so high."
In the second verse, Yoakam sings about how touching and hoping do not feel real until they are experienced with the person he loves. He longs for their next touch and feel their heart hoping. The chorus repeats the idea that he still has a long way to go before he can finally find love and be with the one he loves. The final verse reinforces the idea that wanting and waiting for something only makes the longing stronger until he has no more waiting left to do. The final lines suggest that he still has a lot of work to do and many miles to cover before he can finally achieve his heart's desire.
Overall, "A Long Way Home" is a song that speaks to the human experience of longing and the pursuit of happiness. The lyrics remind us that dreams and wishes are essential, but also that they are not enough to make something a reality. The song is a call to take action and keep pushing forward, even in the face of obstacles and setbacks.
Line by Line Meaning
Dreamin' is only dreamin'
The idea of pursuing something is just an imaginary illusion until it becomes a reality.
'Til dreamin' is the only thing that's true
We must work hard to turn our dreams into reality so that they become our truth.
Yeah wishin' is only wishin'
Simply wishing or hoping for something is not enough to make it happen.
Till my only thoughts' the wish to be with you
When someone becomes the focus of our desires and we only want to be with them, then true feelings of longing and hope start to arise.
I've got a long way to go before I get there
The journey towards achieving our goals is long and hard, and we need to be prepared for the challenges ahead.
I've got a lot of field to hoe with the sun so high
There is a lot of work to be done, and it will not be easy. The sun being high represents the difficulty of toiling under the heat of the day.
Got a lot of miles to roll
The road ahead is long and we need to be patient to reach our goals.
And the next few only show
The near future indicates that there will be more challenges to come.
That there is still such a long way to go
Despite the difficulty of the journey, we must remain committed and focused to complete it.
Hopin' doesn't feel like hopin'
The feeling of hope is intensified when shared with someone we care about.
If I can feel your heart hopin' too
When both parties involved share the same desire and hope for a certain outcome, it is a stronger motivation for it to become reality.
Oh touchin' doesn't feel like touchin'
Physical contact with someone we love feels deeper and more meaningful than with someone we don't care about as much.
Until I feel the next touch from you
Our desire for physical contact with someone we love only intensifies the more we touch them.
Wanting just keeps me wanting
Once we start wanting something or someone, it's difficult to stop and it only intensifies.
The next and last both keep me wanting you
Both the desire for the next touch and the fear that it could be the last intensify our longing for the person we care about.
Oh and waiting just keeps me waiting
Waiting for something we want until it becomes reality can be stressful and emotionally draining.
Until there's no more waiting left to do
The fulfillment of our desire brings an end to the anticipation and waiting, bringing us great relief and happiness.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DWIGHT DAVID YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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