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.
Playboy
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know, you know, you know we've got to watch out.
He, he, he's a playboy, (watch out)
He, he, he's a playboy.
Playboy get away from my door,
I heard about the lovers you had before.
You took their love for a game of joy,
Playboy I see your kind, winning ev'ry girl with the same old line.
So playboy stay away from my door,
I know about the lovers you had before, Playboy.
You wasn't sayin' nothin', in my book,
'Cause this is one fish you'll never ever hook.
You left the others standin' with their hearts in pain,
Now you're comin' 'round tryin' to do me the same.
Playboy I see your kind, winning ev'ry girl with the same old line.
So playboy stay away from my door,
I know about the lovers you had before, Playboy.
Watch out, He, he, he's a playboy. (Watch out) Please, please.
The song "Playboy" by Dwight Yoakam portrays a man warning women to be wary of a notorious playboy who is skilled in winning over girls with the same tired and insincere lines. The singer of the song expresses his knowledge of the playboy's past actions, where he played with the hearts of girls like they were toys. The warning in the lyrics is supposed to be taken seriously because the playboy, who is referred to repeatedly as "he, he, he" in the song, is portrayed to be dangerous.
The lyrics convey the idea that the playboy is a very skilled manipulator who has broken the hearts of many women in the past, and the singer is cautioning women not to get caught up in his webs. The lyrics also demonstrate that the playboy is not just an emotional danger, but he can be physically dangerous to women as well. The repetition of the phrase "watch out" with the sound of chuckling in the background further reinforces the warning in the song. In conclusion, the song's lyrics effectively convey the message that it is important to be aware of manipulative people who can be harmful to one's emotional well-being.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, girls, you know we've got to watch out,
Hey ladies, we have to be careful because there's a certain type of guy we need to avoid.
You know, you know, you know we've got to watch out.
I can't stress enough how important it is for us to watch out for this guy.
He, he, he's a playboy, (watch out)
The guy I'm talking about is a playboy and we should be cautious when dealing with him.
Playboy get away from my door,
Playboy, I don't want you coming around my place.
I heard about the lovers you had before.
I know about all the women you've been with in the past.
You took their love for a game of joy,
You treated their feelings like they were a game to entertain yourself.
You tossed their hearts around as though it was a toy, Playboy.
You played with their emotions as if they were nothing but toys to you, Playboy.
Playboy I see your kind, winning ev'ry girl with the same old line.
You're the type of guy who uses the same lies and tricks to charm each new girl you come across, Playboy.
So playboy stay away from my door,
I don't want anything to do with you, Playboy. Stay away from me.
I know about the lovers you had before, Playboy.
I'm well aware of all the women you've played in the past, Playboy.
You wasn't sayin' nothin', in my book,
I didn't consider you worthy of my attention.
'Cause this is one fish you'll never ever hook.
You won't be able to win me over, no matter how hard you try.
You left the others standin' with their hearts in pain,
You hurt the feelings of all the other women you've been with.
Now you're comin' 'round tryin' to do me the same.
You're trying to get me to fall for the same tricks you used on those other women.
Watch out, He, he, he's a playboy. (Watch out) Please, please.
Again, I urge you to be careful around Playboy. He's not someone to be trusted with our hearts and emotions.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Frank Edward Wilson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Susan
on Fast As You
Who is Sookie? I gotsta know!