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.
Sin City
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It'll swallow you in
If you've got some money to burn
Take it home right away
You've got three years to pay
And Satan is waiting his turn
The scientists say it'll all wash away
But we don't believe anymore
In their green mohair suits
So please show your I.D. at the door
[Chorus]
This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poorhouse
It seems like this whole town's insane
On the thirty-first floor your gold-plated door
Won't keep out the Lord's burning rain
A fool came around tried to clean up this town
His ideas made some people mad
But he trusted in his crowd
So he spoke right out loud
And they lost the best friend they ever had
[Chorus]
On the thirty-first floor your gold-plated door
Won't keep out the Lord's burning rain
Dwight Yoakam's "Sin City" is a song that provides a dark, haunting portrayal of urban life. The lyrics allude to a city that is overrun by sin, with its inhabitants seemingly caught in a never-ending cycle of temptation and corruption. The first verse paints the picture of someone who has found themselves caught in the grip of the city's allure, with the warning that "It'll swallow you in." The mention of "three years to pay" suggests that the lure of the city's vices is hard to resist, despite the cost.
The lyrics go on to describe how the city's inhabitants no longer believe in anything other than their own materialistic pursuits. The "recruits in their green mohair suits" suggests a kind of uniformity that pervades the city's culture, where even individuality is subsumed by the desire for material wealth. The chorus further amplifies the song's theme of impending doom and punishment, as the singer notes that even those with wealth and privilege will not be able to escape the wrath of a vengeful God.
The final verse alludes to a failed attempt to bring salvation to the city, with the "best friend they ever had" being lost due to his attempts to "clean up this town." The mention of a "fool" suggests that the singer is skeptical that anything can truly change the course of the city's trajectory. The final line, "On the thirty-first floor your gold-plated door won't keep out the Lord's burning rain," underscores the theme of divine punishment, suggesting that even those with the greatest material wealth will be unable to avoid the consequences of their actions.
Line by Line Meaning
This old town is filled with sin
The town is a place notorious for wickedness and immoral activities.
It'll swallow you in
People who come to the town can become entranced and swallowed by its corrupt ways.
If you've got some money to burn
If one has a significant amount of money, they can try to spend it all in one go for the town's amenities.
Take it home right away
Take back the material things you came for straight back to your origin.
You've got three years to pay
You have ample time to repay any borrowed money spent in town.
And Satan is waiting his turn
When you're done, the devil and sin will still be present.
The scientists say it'll all wash away
Scientific theories suggest that what happens in the town will eventually disappear.
But we don't believe anymore
People in the town no longer believe in the theory.
'Cause we've got our recruits
The town has got youth who are brave and daring.
In their green mohair suits
These daring youngsters dress in fancy green suits, determined to be a successful part of the town.
So please show your I.D. at the door
Visitors to the town have to identify themselves before entering because the town is dangerous.
This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poorhouse
The earthquake is likely to ruin Dwight's prospects, leaving him in poverty.
It seems like this whole town's insane
The bizarre and unexplained happenings in the town belies the conclusion that the town is entirely sane.
On the thirty-first floor your gold-plated door
Even the most magnificent doors will not hold out the hardships experienced in the town.
Won't keep out the Lord's burning rain
Nothing good will come out from the town, only destruction.
A fool came around tried to clean up this town
An individual unsuccessfully attempted to change the town's wicked ways.
His ideas made some people mad
The proposed changes made many inhabitants of the town angry.
But he trusted in his crowd
He trusted his supporters.
So he spoke right out loud
He spoke his mind loudly against the town's evil ways.
And they lost the best friend they ever had
His supporters lost a great friend when he bailed out of the town.
Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER HILLMAN, GRAM PARSONS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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