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.
Chiggers
Seasick Steve Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't lay your babies on my leg
Leave me alone little chiggers
Obvious one thing Lord I beg
Hear me beg ya all
Hear me beg ya all
Hear me beg ya all
They still make a motel out of me
They come when hot and muggy
It's so unfair, can't you see
Can't you see, ya all
Can't you see, ya all
I wear my socks up to my knees
They still make a motel out of me
They come when hot and muggy
Is so unfair, can't you see
Can't you see, oh
Can't you see, oh
Did you ever get yourself down in a south in a summer time
In a long grass or cut field
What you gotta to do when you go home is this
Take all your clothes off and put'em in the washing machine
On a hottest cycle you can, especially your socks
Then you gotta put yourself in a bathtub on hottest water you can stand
Like a lobster
And if you are really lucky, and I mean really lucky
They won't eat you alive,
They won't eat you alive,
They won't eat you alive,
They won't eat you alive,
I wear my socks up to my knees
They still make a motel out of me
They come when hot and muggy
It's so unfair, can't you see
Can't you see, ya all
Can't you see, ya all
Can't you see, ya all
I wear my socks up to my knees
They still make a motel out of me
They come when hot and muggy
It's so unfair, can't you see
Can't you see, ya all
Can't you see, ya all
The lyrics to Seasick Steve's song "Chiggers" describe the irritating and painful experience of being bitten by chiggers, small mites that infest grassy areas and attach themselves to human skin. The singer pleads with the chiggers to leave him alone and not lay their eggs on his leg. He goes on to describe how he wears his socks up to his knees, but they still "make a motel" out of him, referring to how the chiggers use his body as a breeding ground. He even provides a humorous solution for getting rid of chiggers - stripping down and washing all clothes on a hot cycle and then immersing oneself in a hot bath.
The song is a lighthearted take on a frustrating and painful experience that many people can relate to. The repetitive nature of the lyrics, with the same verse repeated several times, adds to the feeling of being trapped and unable to escape the chiggers. The use of colloquial language, such as "ya all" and the Southern accent in which Seasick Steve performs the song, adds to the humor and authenticity of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Leave me alone little chiggers
asking the chiggers to leave him alone
Don't lay your babies on my leg
warning the chiggers not to lay their eggs on his leg
Obvious one thing Lord I beg
pleading for the Lord's help
Hear me beg ya all
repeating his plea for attention
I wear my socks up to my knees
describing his attempt to protect himself from chiggers
They still make a motel out of me
chiggers can still infest him despite his efforts
They come when hot and muggy
chiggers thrive in hot and humid weather
It's so unfair, can't you see
expressing his frustration with the situation
Can't you see, ya all
asking for empathy and understanding
Did you ever get yourself down in a south in a summer time
describing a situation when chiggers are prevalent
In a long grass or cut field
specifying where chiggers are abundant
What you gotta to do when you go home is this
giving advice on how to deal with chiggers
Take all your clothes off and put'em in the washing machine
suggesting to wash clothes to get rid of chiggers
On a hottest cycle you can, especially your socks
advising to wash socks on the hottest cycle to kill chiggers
Then you gotta put yourself in a bathtub on hottest water you can stand
recommending to take a hot bath to kill any remaining chiggers
Like a lobster
comparing the hot bath to cooking a lobster
And if you are really lucky, and I mean really lucky
suggesting that getting rid of chiggers is not easy
They won't eat you alive,
hoping that the chiggers won't cause too much discomfort
I wear my socks up to my knees
repeating his attempt to protect himself from chiggers
They still make a motel out of me
reiterating his inability to completely avoid chiggers
It's so unfair, can't you see
recalling his frustration with the situation
Can't you see, ya all
repeating his plea for empathy and understanding
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: STEVE GENE WOLD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind