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.
No Such Thing
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As tears or heartache
There's no such thing
As lonely or blue
There's no such thing
As any memory about us
There's no such thing
There's no such thing
As it turning out badly
There's no such thing
As hopes and dreams gone bust
There's no such thing
As this all ending sadly
'Cause where we are concerned
There is no such thing as love
You never wanted
To be kissed or told
That I never wanted
Another to hold
We never laughed
We never cried
If that's not the truth
It's just better to lie
You never wanted
To be kissed or told
That I never wanted
Another to hold
We never laughed
We never cried
If that's not the truth
It's just better to lie
'Cause there's no such thing
As any trouble forgetting
And there's no such thing
As deceit or mistrust
Yeah, there's no such thing
As remorse or regretting
'Cause where we're concerned
There is no such thing as love
Where we're concerned
There is no such thing as love
In Dwight Yoakam's song "No Such Thing," he sings about a relationship that never truly existed. The opening lines state that tears, heartache, loneliness, and memories about "us" do not exist. There was never any love between the two people, just a relationship based on lies. The chorus repeats that "there is no such thing as love" when it comes to the relationship.
The second verse describes how the two people never truly had any meaningful interactions. They never laughed or cried together and it's unclear if anything they said to each other was truthful. Yoakam sings the line "If that's not the truth, it's just better to lie," emphasizing the dishonesty in the relationship.
The final verse continues the theme of the non-existent relationship, this time focusing on the idea that there is no such thing as trouble forgetting, deceit, mistrust, or regretting when it comes to their "love." The repetition of "there is no such thing as love" drives home the idea that the relationship was never based on genuine emotion.
Overall, the lyrics of "No Such Thing" convey the idea that this relationship was nothing more than a facade. The absence of love and meaningful connection is the central theme of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
There's no such thing
The singer denies the existence of something that is assumed to be true.
As tears or heartache
The singer denies the pain associated with a past relationship.
As lonely or blue
The singer denies feeling alone or unhappy after the relationship.
As any memory about us
The artist denies the existence of any memories related to the past relationship.
As me and you
The artist denies that the relationship ever existed.
As it turning out badly
The singer denies the possibility of the relationship ending in a negative way.
As hopes and dreams gone bust
The singer denies that there were any expectations or aspirations associated with the relationship.
As this all ending sadly
The artist denies the possibility of the relationship ending in a tragic way.
'Cause where we are concerned
There is no such thing as love
The artist denies that there ever was any love between the two people involved.
You never wanted
To be kissed or told
That I never wanted
Another to hold
The artist recalls that they never expressed affection or commitment to each other.
We never laughed
We never cried
If that's not the truth
It's just better to lie
The singer acknowledges that there were no emotional moments shared, but suggests that it's easier to pretend otherwise.
As any trouble forgetting
The artist denies the possibility of having difficulties moving on from the past relationship.
As deceit or mistrust
The singer denies any occurrence of lying or suspicion during the relationship.
As remorse or regretting
The singer denies feeling sorry or guilty about anything related to the relationship.
'Cause where we're concerned
There is no such thing as love
The singer repeats the denial that there was any love between the two people involved.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DWIGHT DAVID YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Susan
on Fast As You
Who is Sookie? I gotsta know!