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.
Throughout All Time
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll still see you walking, silently
Through the shadows in my mind
A vision of your sweet blue eyes
Creeps into my dreamful sleep at night
You still haunt the deepness of my memories
I guess you will throughout all time
The very dress you wore on that day
It was so soft, a shade of violet, Lord
How it took my breath away
As the sunshine of the morning
Broke across your golden hair
How I wished to hold you tightly, Lord
But I was shy and did not dare
Chorus:
I'll still see you walking, silently
Through the shadows in my mind
A vision of your sweet blue eyes
Creeps into my dreamful sleep at night
You still haunt the deepness of my memories
I guess you will throughout all time
--- Instrumental ---
Many nights I've sat and wondered
If you might be somebody's wife
But if you're not, I'd long to see you
If just to tell you how I've pined
I've been known to ask a stranger
That I thought might just pass your way
If they would tell you of these feelings
That we might meet again someday
Chorus:
I'll still see you walking, silently
Through the shadows in my mind
A vision of your sweet blue eyes
Creeps into my dreamful sleep at night
You still haunt the deepness of my memories
I guess you will throughout all time
You still haunt the deepness of my memories
I guess you will throughout all time
I guess you will throughout all time...
The lyrics of Dwight Yoakam's song "Throughout All Time" revolve around the theme of nostalgia and lost love. The singer is reminiscing about a girl he had feelings for in the past and the memories he still retains of her. He remembers the dress she wore on a specific day and how it had taken his breath away. The singer had not been able to express his feelings to her and is uncertain if she is now married or not. Despite the uncertainty, the singer expresses a longing to meet her again to tell her how he feels. The chorus emphasizes the persistence of these memories and how they will persevere throughout all time.
The lyrics of the song offer a window into the human experience of pining for lost love and the power of memories to endure. The guitar-heavy instrumental section further accentuates the emotions of the lyrics. The song provides an insight into human nature and its relationship with memory and time.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll still see you walking, silently
I will still remember seeing you walking through my mind
Through the shadows in my mind
I see you in the darkest corners of my thoughts
A vision of your sweet blue eyes
I remember your lovely blue eyes
Creeps into my dreamful sleep at night
You appear in my dreams at night
You still haunt the deepness of my memories
You still stay in the depths of my memory
I guess you will throughout all time
I think you will always be there in my mind
Little girl I still remember
I still remember you as a young girl
The very dress you wore on that day
I remember what dress you wore that day
It was so soft, a shade of violet, Lord
It was a soft, violet dress
How it took my breath away
It took my breath away when I saw you
As the sunshine of the morning
When the morning sun shone
Broke across your golden hair
And lighted up your golden hair
How I wished to hold you tightly, Lord
I wanted to hold you close, but I was too shy
But I was shy and did not dare
I was too scared to make a move
Many nights I've sat and wondered
I have thought about you many nights
If you might be somebody's wife
If you might be married to someone else
But if you're not, I'd long to see you
But if you're not married, I would love to see you
If just to tell you how I've pined
Just to let you know how much I long for you
I've been known to ask a stranger
I have asked strangers
That I thought might just pass your way
If they have seen you recently
If they would tell you of these feelings
To tell you how I feel about you
That we might meet again someday
So that we may see each other again someday
You still haunt the deepness of my memories,
You still stay in the depths of my memory
I guess you will throughout all time
I think you will always be there in my mind
You still haunt the deepness of my memories
You still stay in the depths of my memory
I guess you will throughout all time
I think you will always be there in my mind
Contributed by Ian S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Susan
on Fast As You
Who is Sookie? I gotsta know!