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.
Two Doors Down
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That plays all night long
Real sad songs
All about me and you
Two doors down there's a barmaid
That serves 'em real strong
Here lately
That's how I make it through
That once was my friend
Two doors down there's a memory
That won't ever end
Two doors down there's a barstool
That knows me by name
And we sit there together
And wait for you
Two doors down there's a bottle
Where I take out my shame
And hold it up
For the whole world to view
Two doors down there's a pay phone
But no calls come in
Two doors down there's a memory
That won't ever end
From the hotel to the barroom
It's just a stumble and a fall
And sometimes when it gets bad
I've been known to crawl
Freedom from sorrow
Is just two doors away
I'll escape for a short time
But I know I can't stay
Two doors down is where they'll find me
When you're finally through
Taking what's left of my life
Two doors down is where they'll leave me
When payment comes due
For the hours I've spent there each night
Two doors down I'll be forgotten
But until then
Two doors down there's a memory
That won't ever end
No it won't ever end
In the song "Two Doors Down," Dwight Yoakam sings about a bar he frequents that is situated just two doors down from his hotel. The song describes a place where Yoakam can escape from his emotions, where he can sit and drink, listen to the jukebox, and forget about his sorrows, even if for a short time. The barmaid is his companion, serving him strong drinks and letting him drown his pain. He describes a bottle that holds his shame for the world to see - a subtle nod to the alcoholism that plagues him. The pay phone receives no calls, yet another lonely reminder of his isolation. The song's title references the distance between his hotel room and the bar. But, no matter how long he spends there, he remains unable to forget the memories that haunt him. He knows that the bar is just a temporary escape, and the payment will eventually come due.
The song deals with the eternal themes of isolation and loneliness. It's about a man who has lost something important and is looking for ways to cope with his pain. Yoakam describes a place, the two doors down bar, where he can forget and drown his sorrows for a while. Even though the song is country music, the lyrics can resonate with anyone who has experienced heartbreak or loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Two doors down there's a jukebox
Adjacent to my location, there is a device that plays music that is melancholy and reminds me of you
That plays all night long
The music from this device is audible throughout the night
Real sad songs
The music played by the jukebox is emotionally distressing
All about me and you
The music played by the jukebox tells stories about our time spent together
Two doors down there's a barmaid
In proximity to me, one can find an individual who serves alcoholic drinks
That serves 'em real strong
The bartender pours the drinks with a high concentration of alcohol
Here lately
Recently, this has been my coping mechanism
That's how I make it through
Drinking alcohol helps me to deal with my emotional pain
Two doors down there's a heartache
Adjacent to me is a source of emotional pain and discomfort
That once was my friend
The source of my pain used to be something I cherished or was intimate with
Two doors down there's a memory
Located right beside me is a recollection of the past that haunts me
That won't ever end
This memory will linger on indefinitely
Two doors down there's a barstool
Nearby me is a piece of furniture often used for sitting and drinking at the bar
That knows me by name
The barstool is very familiar with me and my habits
And we sit there together
I often occupy this chair to drink and mull over my problems
And wait for you
I entertain the hope that you might show up and the situation might improve
Two doors down there's a bottle
Close to me is a container for a type of alcoholic drink
Where I take out my shame
I seek solace in the bottle and use it to numb the pain of my situation
And hold it up
I display the bottle to the world
For the whole world to view
I allow others to see my dependency on alcohol
Two doors down there's a pay phone
Situated next to me is a device that can be used to make calls after paying a fee
But no calls come in
The phone never rings
From the hotel to the barroom
Referring to the distance I travel to escape from pain
It's just a stumble and a fall
The emotional pain causes me to physically trip and fall
And sometimes when it gets bad
During times of intense emotional suffering
I've been known to crawl
I become so weak and helpless that I am reduced to crawling on the ground
Freedom from sorrow
Relief from the emotional pain
Is just two doors away
I can escape from pain by going through a few doors
I'll escape for a short time
I experience temporary relief from the pain
But I know I can't stay
I am aware that the relief is temporary and my pain remains unchanged
Two doors down is where they'll find me
When people search for me, they will discover me in close proximity to my usual places of refuge
When you're finally through
When you are finished hurting or leaving me
Taking what's left of my life
When you have taken all that I have to offer
Two doors down is where they'll leave me
After you have taken everything from me, you will abandon me in close proximity to my usual places of refuge
When payment comes due
When I am forced to pay the price for my emotional struggles
For the hours I've spent there each night
For the time I have spent seeking solace in drinking establishments
Two doors down I'll be forgotten
After my demise, people will soon forget about me
But until then
Before my death
Two doors down there's a memory
Located next to me is an unshakable recollection of the past
That won't ever end
This memory will linger on indefinitely
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DWIGHT DAVID YOAKAM, KOSTAS LAZARIDES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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