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.
wheels
Dwight Yoakam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We've got the telephone to say what we can't say
We all get higher and higher everyday
Come on wheels take this boy away.
Chorus:
We're not afraid to ride,
We're not afraid to die
Come on wheels take this boy away.
--- Instrumental ---
When I feel my time here is almost up
And destiny is in my right hand
I will turn to him that made my faith so strong
Come on wheels make this boy a man.
Chorus:
We're not afraid to ride,
We're not afraid to die
So come on wheels take me home today
Come on wheels take this boy away.
The lyrics of Dwight Yoakam's "Wheels" are filled with themes of freedom, escape, and mortality. The opening lines, "We've all got wheels to take ourselves away / We've got the telephone to say what we can't say," hint at a desire for emotional and physical distance from something or someone. This idea continues in the second verse with the lines, "We all get higher and higher everyday / Come on wheels take this boy away," which suggest a need for escape and release.
The chorus, "We're not afraid to ride, / We're not afraid to die / So come on wheels take me home today / Come on wheels take this boy away," reinforces the theme of freedom and highlights an acceptance of death as a part of life's journey. The final verse, "When I feel my time here is almost up / And destiny is in my right hand / I will turn to him that made my faith so strong / Come on wheels make this boy a man," speaks to the inevitability of death and the importance of faith in facing it.
Overall, the lyrics of "Wheels" convey a sense of longing for freedom from life's troubles and a willingness to accept whatever fate may come.
Line by Line Meaning
We've all got wheels to take ourselves away
We all have our own means of escape to get away from our troubles
We've got the telephone to say what we can't say
We use technology to communicate our thoughts and feelings that we may struggle to express in person
We all get higher and higher everyday
As time goes on, our experiences and obstacles allow us to grow and rise above them
Come on wheels take this boy away.
Let my mode of transportation carry me away from my problems and into a place of peace
When I feel my time here is almost up
As life draws to a close, and I know that my time is running out
And destiny is in my right hand
The forces of fate and destiny are within my control
I will turn to him that made my faith so strong
I will look to my source of strength and faith for comfort and guidance
Come on wheels make this boy a man.
Let me continue to travel and grow, taking on the challenges of life to emerge as a stronger person
We're not afraid to ride,
We embrace adventure and the unknown, and we are not scared of taking risks
We're not afraid to die
We are unafraid of the inevitability of death, and we strive to live our lives to the fullest
So come on wheels take me home today
Let my journey through life continue, taking me back to a place of comfort and familiarity
Come on wheels take this boy away.
Let my transportation be my mode of escape from the hardships of life
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER HILLMAN, GRAM PARSONS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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