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.
Only You
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Only you, can turn my skies to blue
Love like ours, should not be far apart
Only you, can break my heart
[Instrumental]
Only you, can end these sleepless nights
You and you alone, can keep us far apart
Only you, can break my heart.
Only you can break my heart...
The lyrics to Dwight Yoakam's song "Only You" convey a sentiment of longing and dependence on a specific person for happiness or heartbreak. The lyrics constantly repeat the phrase "only you," emphasizing the importance and singularity of this person in the singer's life. The lyrics imply that without this person, the singer's dreams will not come true, their skies will not be blue, and they will suffer from sleepless nights.
The song continues to express that the love between the singer and this individual should not be far apart, indicating that distance may be a factor in their relationship. The final line, "Only you can break my heart," is a significant one. While the previous lines talk about how "only you" can make the singer's life better, this final line brings forth the idea that this one person can also bring heartbreak and sadness.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of dependency and vulnerability in love, where one person can make or break the other's happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Only you, can make my dreams come true
I believe that you are the only person who can fulfill my deepest desires
Only you, can turn my skies to blue
You are the only one who has the ability to make me feel happy and fulfilled
Love like ours, should not be far apart
Our love is special and should not be kept distant from one another
Only you, can break my heart
I am vulnerable and trust you with my heart, but you are the only one who can destroy it
[Instrumental]
No lyrics, just instrumental music
Only you, can end these sleepless nights
I am so anxious and stressed without you, but only your presence can give me peace
Only you, can make things turn out right
I have faith in you to make everything in my life perfect and complete
You and you alone, can keep us far apart
If there is distance between us, it is solely because of your choices and actions
Only you, can break my heart.
I am putting all my trust and love into you, but that also means you have the power to crush me emotionally.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Buck Owens
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TheQueenOfCountry
Lyrics:
Only you can make my dreams come true
Only you can turn my skies blue
Love like ours should not be far apart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can end these sleepless nights
Only you can make things turn out right
You and you alone can keep us far apart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can make my dreams come true
Only you can turn my skies blue
Love like ours should not be far apart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can break my heart
Only you
Only you
Only you
Låtskrivere: Buck Owens
TheQueenOfCountry
Lyrics:
Only you can make my dreams come true
Only you can turn my skies blue
Love like ours should not be far apart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can end these sleepless nights
Only you can make things turn out right
You and you alone can keep us far apart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can make my dreams come true
Only you can turn my skies blue
Love like ours should not be far apart
Only you can break my heart
Only you can break my heart
Only you
Only you
Only you
Låtskrivere: Buck Owens
Edward Deitch
The man is the greatest voice ever in country. And he is smart enough to get the best backup musicians in the business.
Phyllis Vinita
Just fell in love with Dwight Yoacom again
Lisa Stariha
Most beautiful portrayal of Dwights amazing voice!!! 💙
Greg Normal
Hello!!! How are you doing today, please pardon me for intruding into your privacy but I just wanted to know if you’re a fan ? Have a great day… Stay Safe!
Alice Randall
Beautiful song, Dwight sings it with a lot of feeling, love him💕💕💕💕
Donna Kilb
Dwight's words and singing go right to my heart ❤️.Just love him
Magdalene Becerra
Pure heart and soul!! Only Dwight!!🎸💖💖💖
Denise Inácio
What an amazing and absolutely beautiful version of this song. Dwight is in a class by himself.
Priscilla Hall
That’s for sure! I don’t know how I missed out on so many years of him? I stopped listening to top 40 country when Garth Brooks came onto the music scene , because to me there ceased to be country music as I had known it and performed it all my high school and college years (a very fulfilling time in my life ending too soon). My mom and dad used to say I was their entertainment, as they followed me wherever I had a show. I told them and all the rest I would not sing that top 40 mess! I just played my old albums, and found some old radio stations that played what I liked! Only recently did I find out Dwight was the great talent he is . What time I wasted finding him ! But I sure enjoyed the ride! He is the real deal!! Thanks Again Queen on Country !