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.
Missing Heart
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With no place left to start
To ever find my way
Around these empty parts
Oh I'm a missing heart
I am an open wound
In need of time and room
Any loss that looms
Oh I am an open wound
I searched so long
And all that I found is now gone
Because anywhere I looked was always wrong
I searched so long
And all that I found is now gone
Because anywhere I looked was always wrong
I am a pleading voice
Lacking any choice
But to be the truth
Over all the noise
I am a pleading voice
I am a vacant stare
Ignoring every glare
That might prove to hold
Just the slightest dare
Oh I am a vacant stare
I searched so long
And all that I found is now gone
'Cause anywhere I looked was always wrong
I am a missing heart
With no place left to start
To ever find my way
Around these empty parts
Oh I am a missing heart
Oh I am a missing heart
Oh I am a missing heart
Oh I am a missing heart
Oh I am
In Dwight Yoakam's song "Missing Heart," the singer speaks from the perspective of a person who feels lost and brokenhearted. The opening lines begin with the statement, "I am a missing heart," which sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer states that they have no place left to start, making it difficult for them to find their way around the empty parts of their life. The next verse continues with the metaphor of an open wound that needs time and space to heal. The singer conveys a sense of grief and loss, knowing that they need to heal from something but feeling lost in the process.
The third verse begins with a statement of "searching so long," implying that the singer has been searching for something for a while. However, they reveal that everything they found is now gone because they were always looking in the wrong places. The final verses go back to the metaphor of the missing heart, describing the singer as a "pleading voice" lacking any choice but to be truthful over all the noise. They also describe themselves as a "vacant stare," ignoring any opportunities that might prove to hold the slightest dare. The song ends with the repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the singer's sense of being a missing heart.
Line by Line Meaning
I am a missing heart
I feel incomplete, as though something essential is missing from my life.
With no place left to start
I am lost and don't know where to begin to find what I am looking for.
To ever find my way
I feel hopeless and resigned to ever finding what I need.
Around these empty parts
I am surrounded by emptiness and loneliness, which only exacerbates my sense of being incomplete.
Oh I'm a missing heart
I repeat this line to emphasize the profound sadness and loneliness I feel.
I am an open wound
I feel raw and exposed, as though I am hurting and vulnerable.
In need of time and room
I require space and time to recover from my pain and heal.
With the space to heal
I require an environment in which I can recover and regain what I have lost.
Any loss that looms
I feel the weight of any loss that I have experienced or may experience in the future.
Oh I am an open wound
I repeat this line to emphasize how raw and vulnerable I feel.
I searched so long
I have been seeking something for a long time.
And all that I found is now gone
I found something that I thought would fulfill me, but it has been lost.
Because anywhere I looked was always wrong
I have been searching in the wrong places or for the wrong things.
I am a pleading voice
I am begging for help or understanding.
Lacking any choice
I feel trapped and unable to change my circumstances.
But to be the truth
I can only be honest about how I feel.
Over all the noise
I am trying to be heard amidst all the distractions and chaos of life.
I am a vacant stare
I am disconnected and unresponsive, as though I am not fully present.
Ignoring every glare
I am not affected or influenced by others' judgment or scrutiny.
That might prove to hold
I am avoiding anything that might change or challenge me.
Just the slightest dare
Even the smallest challenge feels too risky or difficult for me to face.
Oh I am a vacant stare
I repeat this line to emphasize how disconnected and unresponsive I feel.
Oh I am a missing heart
I repeat this line to emphasize the sadness and loneliness I feel.
Oh I am a missing heart
I repeat this line to emphasize the deep sense of loss and emptiness I feel.
Oh I am a missing heart
I repeat this line a final time to drive home the point that I am incomplete and need something to make me whole.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DWIGHT DAVID YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel Kearns
The man is a legend, by far my favorite artist... SO FREAKING GOOD!
SJefferson33
What a gorgeous song, sung by a master. The words, the sound of thunder, the build up of the agony to that last shout at the end is powerful. Goosebumps!
Darlene Krause Lang
This is such a hauntingly beautiful song with both its lyrics and melody. A real treasure of a song from Dwight that should have been an award winning hit.
Kathy Green
Chills up my spine! Dwight puts such emotion into all his songs! What a talented, gifted man!
Odette M
This song is me. I love Dwight for the lyrics he composes that touch my heart and soul.
shirlee powell
Love this and every song this man ever sang!!! 😘😘😘
Odette M
The song of my life. Dwight, you wrote this for me.
Suh Synched
Sheer beauty just captures vulnerability and solitude so effortlessly
Odette M
After losing my daughter and my husband, this is my song. This is my pain.
Odette M
I'm sorry for your loss. I feel your pain.