Miller was born to Dr. George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. His first guitar chords were taught to him by the legendary Les Paul, pioneer of the electric guitar and also Miller's godfather. While at St. Mark's School of Texas, Miller formed his first band, The Marksmen. Miller taught classmate Royce Boz Scaggs some guitar chords so he could join the band; Scaggs became better known by his nickname, Boz. Miller attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the 1960s, where he formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year. Ben Sidran was added to the Ardells as a keyboardist the following year. Miller was only sixteen when he started college, and dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree. Les Paul encouraged young Miller to utilize his prodigal talents, and much of Miller's success has been attributed to Paul's tutelage during his childhood and teenage years.
Prior to forming the Steve Miller Band, Miller was in a band with Barry Goldberg called the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band. They formed in 1965, and released one single, before Miller left the band.
In 1968, Miller formed the Steve Miller Band, with Miller handling vocals, and released an album, Children of the Future, the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that dominated the San Francisco music scene at the time. Scaggs would leave the band after a couple of albums. Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5 followed. These albums performed respectably on the album charts but failed to yield a hit. This first period in Steve Miller's music formed part of double album compilation "Anthology" which includes a guest appearance on drums by the then Beatle Paul McCartney on the song "My Dark Hour".
1973's The Joker marked the start of the second phase of Miller's career: more pop-oriented and simplistic, the album featured a number one hit in the U.S. in the title track as well as several other popular tunes. In fact, "The Joker" hit Number One on the UK singles chart in September 1990 after it was used on a television commercial.
Miller followed up The Joker with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977. This pair of albums represented the peak of Miller's commercial career, both reaching the top echelons of the album charts and spawning a seemingly-endless series of hit singles, including "Rock'n Me", "Take the Money and Run", "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love". While critics lambasted Miller for abandoning his more ambitious approach and socially-aware lyrics for simple pop-rock and derivative blues tunes, fans gravitated towards the catchy, melodic songs in great numbers, and the Steve Miller Band co-headlined a major stadium tour with the Eagles in 1977.
On the heels of this massive success, Miller took a long hiatus from recording and touring, emerging in 1981 with Circle of Love, an ambitious album possibly intended to appease critics of his new style. Sales were disappointing, however, and in 1982 he returned to the pop formula with another hit album, Abracadabra. This was Miller's last great commercial success; a series of collections, live albums and attempts to find a new style appeared sporadically, but after 1993 Miller gave up producing records altogether. However, he collaborated with Paul McCartney on the former Beatle's 1997 Grammy-nominated album, Flaming Pie.
Ya Ya
Steve Miller Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Uh-huh, alright
Sittin' here la la, waitin' on my ya ya
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
May sound funny, but I don't believe she's coming
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Hey baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Uh-huh, alright
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
You know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Uh-huh, alright
Yeah baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, it's outta sight
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, alright
You know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Sittin' here la la, waitin' on my ya ya
Uh-huh, alright
Sittin' here la la, waitin' on my ya ya
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Ooh
The lyrics to Steve Miller's song Ya Ya depict a man waiting for his lover, referred to as "ya ya," to arrive. The repetition of "sittin' here la la" adds to the feeling of boredom and impatience. The singer seems to doubt that his lover will show up, saying, "May sound funny, but I don't believe she's coming." However, his love for her is clear in the repeated line "you know that I love you, oh how I love you."
Line by Line Meaning
Sittin' here la la, waitin' on my ya ya
I am sitting here, doing nothing, waiting for my beloved Ya Ya.
Uh-huh, alright
I am in agreement with my own state of waiting.
Sittin' here la la, waitin' on my ya ya
Again stating that I am sitting and waiting for Ya Ya.
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
Ya Ya is absent, which means she is not present and I cannot see her.
May sound funny, but I don't believe she's coming
It might seem strange, but honestly, I doubt Ya Ya will show up.
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Reiterating my previous statement and adding my own agreement to it.
Hey baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Addressing Ya Ya, urging her to hurry and not cause me stress by worrying about her whereabouts.
Uh-huh, alright
My agreement with my own plea for Ya Ya to hurry up.
Oh baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Repeating my plea for Ya Ya to come quickly and prevent me from worrying about her.
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
Reiterating Ya Ya's absence from my view.
You know that I love you, oh how I love you
Expressing my deep love for Ya Ya and stating that she knows this already.
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Reiterating my love for Ya Ya and adding my agreement to my own statement.
Baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Again urging Ya Ya to come quickly to prevent me from worrying.
Uh-huh, alright
Agreeing with my own plea to Ya Ya to hurry up.
Yeah baby hurry, don't you make me worry
Repeating my plea for Ya Ya to come quickly and prevent me from worrying.
Uh-huh, she's outta sight
Reiterating Ya Ya's absence from my view.
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Reiterating my love for Ya Ya and making sure she knows how deeply I feel it.
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Agreeing with my own statement about my feelings for Ya Ya.
You know that I love you, oh how I love you
Repeating my previous statement about my love for Ya Ya.
Uh-huh, it's outta sight
Agreeing with my own feelings of love for Ya Ya and emphasizing that it is immense and unmatched.
Know that I love you, oh how I love you
Reiterating my love for Ya Ya again.
Uh-huh, alright
Agreeing with my own statement expressing how deep my love for Ya Ya is.
You know that I love you, oh how I love you
Repeating for the final time how deeply I love Ya Ya.
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Agreeing with my own statement about my love for Ya Ya.
Sittin' here la la, waitin' on my ya ya
Finishing the song with the same line used throughout to express my current state of sitting and waiting for Ya Ya.
Uh-huh, alright
Ending with my own agreement with my current state of waiting.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Clarence L Lewis, Lee Dorsey, Morris Levy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind