Wold was born in Oakland, California. When he was four years old, his parents split up. His father played boogie-woogie piano and Wold tried to learn when he was five or six, but could not. At the age of eight, he learned to play the guitar from K. C. Douglas, who worked at his grandfather's garage, later realizing that he had been taught the blues. Douglas wrote the song "Mercury Blues" and had played with Tommy Johnson in the early 1940s. Wold left home at 13 to avoid abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and lived rough and on the road in Tennessee, Mississippi and elsewhere, until 1973. He would travel long distances by hopping freight trains, looking for work as a farm labourer or in other seasonal jobs, often living as a hobo. At various times, Wold worked as a carnie, a cowboy and a migrant worker. Paraphrasing H. L. Mencken, Wold described this time of his life by saying "Hobos are people who move around looking for work, tramps are people who move around but don't look for work, and bums are people who don't move and don't work. I've been all three."
When asked about his nickname, Wold has said: "because it's just true: I always get seasick". When he was ill on a ferry from Norway to Copenhagen, later in his life, a friend began playfully using the name and, despite Wold not rising to it for a while, it stuck. When asked about his name on British Sunday morning television show, Something for the Weekend, he replied, "I just get sick on boats". On Top Gear, when asked about his name, Wold replied "Well, I guess I just don't like boats!"
Wold made his first UK television appearance on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny BBC TV show on New Year's Eve 2006. He performed a live rendition of "Dog House Boogie" on the "Three String Trance Wonder" and the "Mississippi Drum Machine". After that show his popularity exploded in Britain, as he explained in an interview:
"I can't believe it, all of the sudden I'm like the cat's meow!"
He was well received in the UK, winning the 2007 MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Act and going on to appear at major UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury. In 2007 he played more UK festivals than any other artist.
Wold toured early in 2008, playing in various venues and festivals in the UK. He was joined on stage by drummer Dan Magnusson. KT Tunstall also dueted with Wold at the London Astoria in January 2008.[20] Wold also played many other festivals throughout the world in 2008, including Fuji Rock in Japan, East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Australia, also in April 2008,[21] and Roskilde in Denmark.
Wold's major-label debut, I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left was recorded with Dan Magnusson on drums, was released by Warner Music on September 29, 2008, and features Ruby Turner and Nick Cave's Grinderman.
He has toured the UK extensively since 2007 being supported by Duke Garwood, Gemma Ray, The Sugars, Billie the Vision and the Dancers in January 2008, Amy LaVere in October 2008, Melody Nelson at the Brighton Dome on 7 October, and Joe Gideon & The Shark in January 2009. His tours in October 2008 and January 2009 were all sold out and included performances at the Royal Albert Hall, the Edinburgh Queen's Hall, the Grand Opera House in Belfast, the Apollo in Manchester, the City Hall in Newcastle and the London Hammersmith Apollo.
In 2009, Wold was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist, That same year, BBC Four broadcast a documentary of Wold visiting the southern USA entitled Seasick Steve: Bringing It All Back Home. On January 21, Wold hosted "Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers and Old Time Ramblers" at the Barbican in London, a show that was also televised and shown with the documentary on BBC Four as part of a series tracing American roots music.
In an interview with an Australian magazine, Wold attributes much of his unlikely success to his cheap and weather-beaten guitar, "The Trance Wonder" and reveals the guitar's mojo might come from supernatural sources. "I got it from Sherman, who is a friend of mine down in Mississippi, who had bought it down at a Goodwill store. When we were down there last time he says to me, 'I didn't tell you when you bought it off me, but that guitar used to be haunted'. I say, 'What are you talking about, Sherman?'. He says, 'There’s 50 solid citizens here in Como who'll tell you this guitar is haunted. It's the darnedest thing – we’d leave it over in the potato barn and we'd come back in and it would be moved. You'd put it down somewhere and the next morning you’d come back and it would have moved. When you took that guitar the ghost in the barn left'. He told me this not very long ago and I said to him, 'Sherman! Why didn't you tell me this before?' and he said, 'Well the ghost was gone – I didn't want it around here no more!'"
On January 3, 2010, Wold appeared on the popular BBC motoring show Top Gear as the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car. He was the last star to drive in the blue Chevrolet Lacetti.
In February 2010, Wold was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist for the second consecutive year.
In 2010, Wold made numerous festival appearances throughout the summer, including the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, the main stage at V Festival, the main stage at the Hop Farm Festival and many more.
In February 2011, Wold signed to Play It Again Sam to release his new album with the exception of the US, where it will be released on Third Man Records. Subsequently his new album You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks was released on his new labels and it was announced that former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones had played on the new album, and performed alongside Wold to promote it.
On 16 August 2014 he was the headline act at Beautiful Days in Exeter, UK, and on the 24th August he headlined at 'Victorious Festival' in Southsea, Portsmouth, UK.
Can U Cook?
Seasick Steve Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What it is I can't quite see
I can't seem to do nothing right.
Maybe I need to change my style
Been this way for a long long while
Maybe there's a few things I ought to fix.
Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Wanna put a little fire in my life
Tired of this ordinary bullshit.
Maybe I need to change my style
Been this way for a long long while
Maybe there's a few things I ought to fix.
Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Well, that right
Maybe I should leave well enough alone
I might not be perfect but I'm me to the bone
I don't need to change my style
Been this way for a long long while
There ain't nothing that I got to fix
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
You can't teach an old dog
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
You can't teach an old dog new
You can't teach an old dog
You can't teach an old dog
You can't teach
You can't teach
You can't teach
Seasick Steve's "You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks" is a song where the singer is reflecting upon his inability to get anything right. He's been this way for a long time and feels frustrated with the mundane cycle of his life. He wonders if it's time to change his style, direction or perhaps fix something in his life. The song poses this question - "Can you teach an old dog new tricks?" - which means, is it possible to teach an old person new skills or new ways of thinking? The singer wants to add some excitement to his life, climb a little higher, and put a little fire in his mundane routine. However, in the end, he decides that maybe he doesn't have to change and that he is happy with who he is.
The lyrics touch on the idea of transformation, the need to constantly introduce new elements in life, and the concept of self-acceptance. The singer appears indecisive, with a mind filled with contradictions. While he longs for a change of pace, he's hesitant to let go of the familiarity of his routine. Hence, there's confusion in the singer's mind, and he seeks guidance from the listener; the song asks if someone can teach an old dog new tricks.
Line by Line Meaning
There must be something wrong with me
I feel like something is off about me
What it is I can't quite see
I am unsure of what it is that's wrong with me
I can't seem to do nothing right.
I feel like I am failing at everything
Maybe I need to change my style
Perhaps I need to change my way of doing things
Been this way for a long long while
I have been like this for quite some time now
Maybe there's a few things I ought to fix.
I might need to make some changes
Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Can someone like me, who's been doing things the same way for so long, change?
Wanna put a little fire in my life
I want to add excitement to my life
Climb a little higher, did it right
I want to achieve more and do things the right way
Tired of this ordinary bullshit.
I am fed up with the mundane and unexciting aspects of life
Maybe I should leave well enough alone
Perhaps I should just be content with where I am in life
I might not be perfect but I'm me to the bone
I may have flaws, but I am proud of who I am
There ain't nothing that I got to fix
I don't feel like there is anything wrong with me that needs fixing
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
It's difficult for someone to change their ways after they've been doing things a certain way for so long
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
It's challenging to teach someone who has been set in their ways for a long time
You can't teach an old dog
It's difficult to teach someone who is unwilling to change
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
It's hard to teach someone who's been doing things the same way for a long time to change and do things differently
You can't teach an old dog new
It's tough to teach someone who has been doing things the same way forever to learn new ways
You can't teach an old dog
It's challenging to teach someone who has been set in their ways for a long time
You can't teach an old dog
It's difficult to change someone's ways when they have been set in their ways for so long
You can't teach
It's hard to teach someone new things if they are not open to learning
You can't teach
It's challenging to educate someone who is not willing to learn
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: STEVE GENE WOLD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alexey Amelyushkin
I am the movement [?]
I wish I knew then what I know now
I said
They say youth is wasted on the young
Don't [?] having fun
But oh Lord if I knew then
The secrets that I know now
I said look out ladies
I'll go up in them
I said look out girls
I'll be rocking them
Come on now
Young boys, they just don't know
[?]
They think it's how they look
But what a woman wants to know is can you cook?
And I don't trust me on a stove
Can you cook?
Can you heat it up boy?
Can you cook it up?
Do you serve it up hot?
I've been talking about cooking now
Not too well done but just right
Just right
Just right
Just right
Just right
Just right
Just right
Just right
Can you cook?
Can you heat it up boy?
Can you cook it up?
Do you serve it up hot?
Young boys, they just don't know
[?]
They think it's how they look
But what a woman wants to know is can you cook?
And I don't trust me in a kitchen
Can you cook?
Can you heat it up boy?
Can you cook it up?
Do you serve it up hot?
Yeah, can you cook it up now?
Ooh, can you heat it up boy?
Yeah, can you cook it up?
Yeah, do you serve it up hot
Can you c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
Can you c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cook it up?
PsychoAxeMan
Such a kick ass song , great video too.
Western Decadence
Amazing video! The animation is brilliant.
Vivien JODER
I love this song !
Vivien JODER
I love this song !
The Piper of Simms
Steve can cook. Great mix.
retrolectrovideo
I can do the best cooking (hot water, fried eggs...) while listening to great music like this (-;
Dusk Whistler
'Saw you guys yesterday night at La Laiterie, Strasbourg, You roooooooooock !!!! Thanks you !!!!!
DaigoKen21
🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥🔥🔥🎸🎸🎸 So cool !!!!!
Grindstone
Now, this is just a guess, but I think, maybe, perhaps, he's not just talking about the culinary arts...
Cátia Marcão
Funny dude !! Hehehe love his music