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.
Down on the Farm
Seasick Steve Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And big ol' farm implements
And things that dig up lots of dirt
And go real loud like they was meant to
Like they was meant to
I like lookin' at a field
That's just been cut
When they do the rut
I love the way hay smells
When it's stacked in a barn
These just a few things gonna find on a farm
Yeah, down on the farm
Yeah, down on the farm
I love the way farm supply stores smell
A mix of seed, workin' clothes
And oil and more
You can get a new shovel
Get a new rake
Get your chainsaw sharpened
But you might have to wait
They got coffee
Yeah, they got coffee, mate
Yeah, they got coffee, mate
Down on the farm (x4)
I think I'll go out and wash
My old John Deere
But hang on just a minute
What's that I hear
My friend Dan playin' drums in the barn
I guess we gonna rock and roll
Yeah, down on the farm
Yeah, down on the farm
Down on the farm (x4)
The lyrics of "Down on the Farm" by Seasick Steve are an ode to the simple pleasures of farm life. The singer finds beauty and satisfaction in the big old farm tractors, implements, and the dirt they dig up. He appreciates the sight of freshly cut fields, the sound of pigs and the smell of hay stacked in a barn. He also loves the smell of farm supply stores, a mix of seed, work clothes, and oil, and enjoys the camaraderie and community of the place. The song ends on a note of joyful abandon, as the singer hears his friend Dan playing drums in the barn and decides to join in and "rock and roll."
Overall, the lyrics of "Down on the Farm" celebrate the rustic simplicity of farm life and the sense of community, improvisation, and creativity that can be found in rural spaces. The song expresses a longing for a more grounded and authentic way of life, one that is close to nature, rooted in tradition, and free from the trappings of modernity.
Line by Line Meaning
I like big ol' farm tractors
I enjoy the presence of large farming vehicles
And big ol' farm implements
I like the use of big farming tools
And things that dig up lots of dirt
I find the act of digging up large amounts of dirt intriguing
And go real loud like they was meant to
I find it fascinating how such machines were designed to be both large and loud
Like they was meant to
As if these machines were created just for this purpose
I like lookin' at a field
I take pleasure in viewing a recently harvested field
That's just been cut
A field freshly cut from all its crops
And lookin' at the pigs
Pleasure in examining the pigs
When they do the rut
When they wallow in the dirt and throw themselves on the ground
I love the way hay smells
I cherish the scent of hay
When it's stacked in a barn
When the hay is stacked in a frisk
These just a few things gonna find on a farm
There are many more things to witness on a farm than just these few items
Yeah, down on the farm
This is how it is like to be on a farm
I love the way farm supply stores smell
The farm stores have a unique scent that I appreciate
A mix of seed, workin' clothes
It contains a mixture of different farming products alongside work clothes
And oil and more
Also oils and other farming essentials.
You can get a new shovel
It's possible to purchase new shovels
Get a new rake
It's possible to purchase new rakes
Get your chainsaw sharpened
Farmers can have their chainsaws serviced here
But you might have to wait
But, sometimes, you may have to deal with some waiting time
They got coffee
The farm store even has coffee
Yeah, they got coffee, mate
Yes, they really do serve coffee
I think I'll go out and wash
I have a plan of washing
My old John Deere
My old John Deere tractor that needs to be cleaned
But hang on just a minute
Something's come up
What's that I hear
I can hear something in the vicinity
My friend Dan playin' drums in the barn
My friend Dan is playing drums in the farm's hall
I guess we gonna rock and roll
I understand that we are going to play rock and roll
Down on the farm
This is what it's like at the farm
Contributed by Jayden G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
filipe goinhas
just a curious fact about this videoclip , the record company gave seasick the money to make a video for this song and he bought a new tractor and made this......seasick steve your the man, thumbs up
Geoffrey Piltz
@LazyLion Maybe it's bullsh*t, but there wasn't a lot of money spent on this video, and that makes me wonder: Why not?
Andrés
Todas las discográficas hacen lo mismo,
Peter Fleming
He appeared on Spicks and Specks an Australian music quiz show and was asked what was the first thing you bought? "A John Deer tractor" was his answer.
ulvar zaiss
money?
chris errickson
And the record company is thirds man records
Karsten Borchert
Love this guy.... for his behavior in that age, for his music, for his life, and especially for how normal and friendly he interacts with his ordiance!!!!
Pawz N Play
And THAT SMILE !! ❤️❤️❤️
Amanda Mills
HUGE respect for this man, and if I can dance like him when Im his age Ill be one very happy lady. Go Steve you ROCK!
SauBaer1982
Somewhere between genius and madness. I love this guy. Best Concert I've ever been.