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.
Things Change
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I said, but I feel the same
She said, well let me explain
Baby, how things can change
I said, but that doesn't show
How a love that could grow
Would become so strange
She said, Na, na, na, na, na
Now, now, now baby, don't try
To figure this out
Or ask questions 'bout why
Forever's a promise
No love can survive
And trust with hearts
Just don't apply
She said,
'Cause baby, things change
Na, na, na, na, na, now, now
So baby I quit tryin'
To figure things out
About all your hearts lyin'
Forever's a promise
We couldn't survive
Hey, I may be slow
But I ain't blind
She said, I still love you so
I said, I don't care to know
She said, you once cried my name
I said, well baby, things change
And let's don't go placing no blame
'Cause you know things can change
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na
She said, you once cried my name
I said, well, baby, things change
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Let's don't go placing no blame, yeah
'Cause you know things can change
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Dwight Yoakam's song "Things Change" is a story of an ending love affair. The song's protagonist is trying to hold on to the memories of his past relationship, but his partner tells him that things have changed, and she no longer feels the same way. He has questions, but she tells him not to bother with them as forever is just a promise; no love can survive, and trust with hearts just doesn't apply. She tells him this is how things are, and he needs to accept it. He then concedes and admits that he will not try to figure it out anymore as he believes she is lying, and the promise of forever is not a reality. The song portrays the heartbreak of two souls who have drifted apart due to circumstances outside of their control.
The song lyrics remind us of the fluid nature of life and relationships. As much as we would like situations to remain constant forever, things change, and we need to adapt to these changes. The chorus, with its repetitive "na, na, na, na, na," creates a feeling of inevitability, and the line "let's don't go placing no blame" suggests that sometimes there's no one person or thing to blame, and it is how it is.
Line by Line Meaning
She said, baby things change
The woman tells her partner that things have changed.
I said, but I feel the same
The man responds that he still feels the same despite the change.
She said, well let me explain
The woman wants to explain what has happened.
Baby, how things can change
She explains to him that things can change unexpectedly.
I said, but that doesn't show
The man is struggling to understand how their love could change.
How a love that could grow
He wonders how their love, which was once strong, could change.
Would become so strange
He finds their current situation strange and unexpected.
She said, well baby, things change
The woman reminds him that things can change suddenly.
She said, Na, na, na, na, na
The woman sings a refrain to indicate her frustration with the situation.
Now, now, now baby, don't try
She asks him not to try too hard to understand what happened.
To figure this out
She advises him not to overthink the situation.
Or ask questions 'bout why
The woman doesn't want to discuss why things have changed.
Forever's a promise
She reminds him that forever is a long time.
No love can survive
She says that no love can survive forever.
And trust with hearts
She suggests that trust is difficult when it comes to the heart.
Just don't apply
She believes that trust doesn't always apply to love.
She said, 'Cause baby, things change
The woman reiterates that things have changed and there is nothing they can do about it.
Na, na, na, na, na, now, now
The refrain repeats again, emphasizing the woman's feelings.
So baby I quit tryin
The man decides to stop trying to figure out what is happening.
To figure things out
He decides to stop trying to understand the situation.
About all your hearts lyin'
He doesn't want to dwell on the past or any perceived wrongs.
Forever's a promise
He reminds himself that forever is difficult to promise.
We couldn't survive
He concludes that they couldn't survive together forever.
Hey, I may be slow
He admits that he might not have understood the situation at first.
But I ain't blind
He asserts that he is not unaware of the changes in their relationship.
She said, I still love you so
The woman declares her continued love for him.
I said, I don't care to know
He doesn't want to discuss their love at that moment.
She said, you once cried my name
She brings up a specific moment in their past.
I said, well baby, things change
He reminds her that things change and the past can't be undone.
And let's don't go placing no blame
He doesn't want to assign blame for what happened.
'Cause you know things can change
He acknowledges that they both know that things can change unexpectedly.
Na, na, na, na, na, na
The refrain repeats to conclude the song.
Na, na, na, na, na, na
The refrain repeats to conclude the song.
Let's don't go placing no blame, yeah
He again insists that they should not assign blame.
'Cause you know things can change
He repeats that they both know things can change suddenly.
Na, na, na, na, na, na
The refrain repeats to end the song.
Na, na, na, na, na, na
The refrain repeats to end the song.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: DWIGHT YOAKAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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