1. Steve Youn… Read Full Bio ↴There are multiple artists using the name Steve Young.
1. Steve Young (July 12, 1942 – March 17, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, known for his song "Seven Bridges Road" (on Rock Salt & Nails & Seven Bridges Road). He was a pioneer of the country rock, Americana, and alternative country sounds, and also a vital force behind the "outlaw movement" that gave support to the careers of Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jr. and more. Young was also featured in the 1975 Outlaw Country documentary Heartworn Highways. He was the subject of the song "The All Golden" by Van Dyke Parks. Young's first album, Rock Salt & Nails, on A&M, was performed on and supported by Gram Parsons, Gene Clark and other musicians from the 1969 musical community in Southern California.
Steve Young has never fit comfortably into categories. He follows his own musical and spiritual quest, weaving together Southern roots with a wide experience of life, and creating new traditions in American music.
Young was born in Georgia and grew up in Alabama, Georgia and Texas in a family which moved frequently in search of work. By the time he had completed high school in Beaumont, Texas, he was playing guitar and writing songs which incorporated influences of folk , country , gospel, and blues musicians and people like Hank Williams , Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and others. Once as a teenager he was blown away by seeing Carlos Montoya , a Flamenco Guitarist. He managed to use that too!
By his late teens, Young was back in Alabama, where he established some reputation on the local music scene. However, the wandering spirit soon took over again. He immersed himself briefly in the Greenwich Village folk scene, at a time when Bob Dylan and others were just being noticed.
Returning to Alabama, Steve found that "my New York folk-protest songs didn't fly in the South." Searching for more receptive audiences, he made short forays to California and other locations before moving to the West Coast in 1964.
In California, he worked with musicians like Van Dyke Parks and Stephen Stills, at one point holding a day job as a mailman. A major-label record deal led to a short-lived stint with a psychedelic country-folk band, Stone Country.
Settling into a solo career, Steve Young became an integral part of the movement which defined the California country-rock sound. Appearing on Steve's 1969 classic album, Rock, Salt & Nails were fellow pioneers like Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon and Gram Parsons.
Through 12 albums and countless live performances, Steve Young's music has remained fresh and aggressive, with a sense of deepening spirituality, and a consistent intellectual and artistic challenge, to himself and to his audience.
Many of the stars of the music industry have recorded Steve Young songs, and in some cases forged a career image around them. "Lonesome, Orn'ry & Mean," for example, became the signature tune for 'Outlaw' Waylon Jennings. Hank Williams Jr.'s cover of "Montgomery In The Rain" remains a classic.
Certainly the most-covered Steve Young song of all is "Seven Bridges Road," which has been recorded at various times by artists like Joan Baez, Rita Coolidge, Ian Matthews, the Eagles, Ricochet, and, most recently, Dolly Parton.
While Steve Young songs have brought commercial success to others, Young has never been close enough to the mainstream to sustain his occasional brushes with stardom . He has been unwilling to accept the loss of artistic control that the industry expects of its stars.
And while Steve has lived in country music towns like Nashville and Austin, and his songs have had a strong impact on the direction of country music, he rejects the country label for himself. Young is in many ways a cultural dynamic in himself.
Part Cherokee (from his father) by birth, steeped in Baptist fundamentalism as a child, yet attracted to a Zen spirituality, the young man from the South with a nomadic spirit went on to create a unique form of American roots music with a truly global perspective.
Steve Young has literally toured the world. He has performed in many countries of Europe, in Australia and New Zealand, in Micronesia, China and Mongolia, in Egypt and East Africa and beyond. Wherever he has gone, he has filled the dual role of ambassador for American music and student of the cultures of others.
Young's live performances express the depth and power of his vision. He draws on his own songs, on Southern folk songs from varied traditions, on collaborations and on the best of contemporary songwriters such as J.D. Loudermilk, David Olney and others.
Steve passed away on March 17, 2016 at age 73
2. 'Steve Young' is also a pseudonym of Peter Friel, ambient tape musician.
Dreamer
Steve Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Almost all my days
The ways of a gambler
I have made them my ways
I’ve been a great dreamer
At that I’ve done fine
For I have been dreaming
A long , long time
But I believe in my dreams
And if they ever come true
I hope it makes no one jealous
I hope it makes no one blue
I’ll just say I deserve it
That makes it all fine
For I have been dreaming
A long , long time
chorus:
Yeah I ‘ve paid my dues
Sung my blues,
Traveled lonely miles
I’ve loved and lost and paid the cost
For the dreaming in my mind,.....
So here’s to all dreamers
I know you know who you are
I hope you find
The pathway to your star
I hope you get high on
Your own special dream wine
For I know you’ve been dreaming
A long, long time
Chorus :
I know you’ve paid your dues
Sung your blues
Traveled lonely miles
I know you’ve loved and lost
And paid the cost
For the dreaming in your mind,....
The song "Dreamer" by Steve Young speaks about the life of a drifter and a gambler, who has been a great dreamer. The lyrics show the artist's admiration for dreamers and their dreams. The singer in the song is a person who has spent almost all his days as a drifter, and has made the ways of a gambler his own. The lyrics suggest that the person has been dreaming for a long time and has never stopped chasing his dreams.
The chorus repeats that he has paid his dues, travelled lonely miles, sung his blues, loved and lost and paid the cost for the dreaming in his mind. Steve Young adds that he hopes his dreams come true, but he does not want anyone to feel jealous or blue. He hopes that his deserving the dream is enough to make it all good.
The message of the song seems to convey an empowering dreamer mindset, telling his listeners that it's essential to keep dreaming, to keep chasing their dreams, regardless of the difficulties and obstacles life puts in front of them. Steve Young acknowledges that he knows other dreamers are just like him, hoping that they also find the pathway to their star and get high on their own special dream wine.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey I’ve been a drifter
I have spent most of my life wandering around without a specific purpose
Almost all my days
I have been a drifter for almost all of my life so far
The ways of a gambler
I have adopted the risk-taking lifestyle of a gambler
I have made them my ways
I have made the ways of a gambler my own ways of living
I’ve been a great dreamer
I have been a person who has been dreaming of big things for a long time
At that I’ve done fine
I have been successful in dreaming, in that I have dreamed up many things
For I have been dreaming
My dreams have been a part of my life for a very long time
A long, long time
I have been dreaming for many years
But I believe in my dreams
I have faith in what I dream of
And if they ever come true
If my dreams ever become a reality
I hope it makes no one jealous
I hope no one becomes envious of my success
I hope it makes no one blue
I hope no one becomes sad or depressed because of my success
I’ll just say I deserve it
I will justify my success by saying I deserved it
That makes it all fine
Justification will make my success acceptable
Here's to all dreamers
This is a cheers to all those who dream big in life
I know you know who you are
I know that those who dream big know themselves and their dreams well
I hope you findThe pathway to your star
I wish that all dreamers find a way to achieve their goals and reach for the stars
I hope you get high onYour own special dream wine
I hope everyone feels the joy and satisfaction of achieving their own unique dreams
Yeah I ‘ve paid my dues
I have experienced hard times and struggles in life
Sung my blues,
I have dealt with sadness and suffering
Traveled lonely miles
I have journeyed through life without the support of others sometimes
I’ve loved and lost and paid the cost
I have experienced love and loss and learned the lessons that come with them
For the dreaming in my mind,...
All these experiences have been worth it due to the dreams in my head
I know you’ve paid your dues
I know that other dreamers have also faced similar struggles in life
Sung your blues
They too have experienced sadness and sorrow
Traveled lonely miles
The journey towards achieving their dreams may have been on their own at times
I know you’ve loved and lost
Just like me, they have experienced love and loss
And paid the cost
They have learned the lessons that come with experiences in life
For the dreaming in your mind,...
All these experiences have been worth it due to the dreams in their heads
Contributed by Eli P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Kim Young
on Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
The lyrics posted here are not actually correct and I don't understand why they are not. If you listen to Steve's vocal you will hear what they should be. This song is truly about getting clean and sober, according to what Steve told me!