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.
Man From Another Time
Seasick Steve Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I feel like a man from another time
My memories of the past so much cleaner and stronger
Oh and fine
Seem to me the girls much prettier
The air was cleaner
And coffee only cost
One dime
One dime
When I was younger
Used to wonder why old folks used to talk about the past
I used to think they was so boring
Now I’ve arrived at last
Anyway, why do you wanna listen to what I got to say at all
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
Than listen to a man
From another time
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man from another time
My greatest fear before I die
Is to turn into a boring old fart
All that I can do is keep on playin’ what’s in my
Heart
Heart
Heart
Anyway, I don’t know why you wanna listen
What I got to say at all
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
That listen to a man
From another time
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man from another time
The lyrics of Seasick Steve's song "Man From Another Time" reflect on nostalgia, memory and the passing of time. The singer is walking down the street and feeling like he comes from a different time, where everything was cleaner and simpler. He seems to long for a past that he perceives as better than the present, where the girls were prettier and coffee was cheaper. He then reflects on how he used to think that older people talking about the past were boring, but he now understands the allure of nostalgia and memory. He acknowledges that he may be seen as a "boring old fart" one day, but he reveals his fear of losing touch with his own heart and musical passion. In the end, he wonders why anyone would want to listen to him, a man from another time, but affirms his own uniqueness and creativity.
Line by Line Meaning
When I walk down the street
Whenever I take a casual stroll outside
I feel like a man from another time
I feel like I belong to a different era or time period
My memories of the past so much cleaner and stronger
My recollections of the past are purer, vivid and robust
Oh and fine
Only good and positive
Seem to me the girls much prettier
To me, the women looked more beautiful during my youth
The air was cleaner
The environment was less polluted and fresh
And coffee only cost
Additionally, a cup of coffee was priced at
One dime
Ten cents
When I was younger
In my younger days
Used to wonder why old folks used to talk about the past
I used to be curious as to why elder people discussed the bygone times
I used to think they was so boring
I used to find them dull and uninteresting
Now I’ve arrived at last
However, I now realize and understand
Anyway, why do you wanna listen to what I got to say at all
Anyway, why should you be interested in my opinions or words?
Don’t you got nothin’ better to do
Don't you have any more valuable things to tend to?
Than listen to a man
Than to pay attention or give a heed to an individual
From another time
From a different era
My greatest fear before I die
I am most apprehensive of
Is to turn into a boring old fart
Growing up to become an uninteresting, dull and passive elderly person
All that I can do is keep on playin’ what’s in my
The only thing that I can do is to continue performing or expressing myself in my unique manner
Heart
From my feelings and intuition
Anyway, I don’t know why you wanna listen
Anyway, I don't understand why you're paying attention
That listen to a man
To give your ear or attention to somebody
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man that belongs to a different era
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man that belongs to a different era
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man that belongs to a different era
Listen to a man from another time
Listen to a man that belongs to a different era
Contributed by Adam V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.