Dwight Yoakam – A Thousand Miles from Nowhere

A great single by Dwight Yoakam. I didn’t listen to much country in the 1990s. This one got my attention. I would say Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam brought me back to country after hearing 1980s country. Those two artists had something substantial to offer and helped the country return to its roots, at least until Brooks arrived and took country music to hell.

I always liked Yoakam’s voice, a mix of Bakersfield twang and croon, which fits it perfectly. For me, this is Dwight at his peak, the product of the outsider cowboy image he made in the 1980s and 1990s. The album This Time had some great songs released from it. This song, Fast As You, and Ain’t That Lonely Yet. One thing I can say about Yoakam in this song is that he makes desolation sound beautiful.

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Country Charts and at #3 in Canada in 1993. The song was written by Yoakam and produced by Pete Anderson. The song was on Dwight’s album This Time. The album peaked at #4 in the Billboard Country Album Charts, #1 in the Canada RPM Album Charts, and #25 in the Billboard Album Charts.

Five singles were released from This Time. Each made the Country Top 40, and they all made the Canada top 5 Country in 1993-94.

The song was featured in two films, Red Rock West and Chasers.

Thousand Miles From Nowhere

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
Are the cruel, cruel things that you said

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I

Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I

I’ve got bruises on my memory
I’ve got tear stains on my hands
And in the mirror there’s a vision
Of what used to be a man

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

Oh, I

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere

I’m a thousand
I’m a thousand

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

30 thoughts on “Dwight Yoakam – A Thousand Miles from Nowhere”

  1. Pingback: Dwight Yoakam – A Thousand Miles from Nowhere – MobsterTiger

  4. I love this song, which some might find surprising. I guess like you, I didn’t listen to ‘country’ in the ’90s but heard this song in passing – possibly in stores first – and it really grabbed me. As I learned more of his music, I came to realize I was a Dwight fan. Pete Anderson, good producer btw. He did Blue Rodeo’s third album, which I think could be argued was their best. Almost certainly the one which was most radio-friendly without really changing what they were about

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    1. Yea it surprised me a lot! When I started to hear the songs come off of this album…it was 5 singles…I was amazed. We started to play Fast As You…which I loved as well.

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      1. I never got to far from it. When I heard Gram Parsons/Rick Grech way back i was lucky to find the older good stuff and then all that Texas music your onto like Ely, Clark, Townes,then Uncle Tupelo, and the newer stuff like Yoakum and Earle. It’s always been there just hiding. The Allmans always had it same as the Band. Dwight got commercial airplay which was great for him and the music. He always gave a nod to guys like Buck and Merle.

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  9. Country music can be hard terrain walk through at times, lots of ‘tears in my beer, my sweet Belinda done run off with my ex-best friend’ kind of bulldust. Then there is this kind which eschews all them fiddles and ‘yeehaws’ and just lets the music flow without all the closed-off Country Club attitude. Good song, great voice for the tune, nice licks light it up too.

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  12. Down here in Texas, he is known as “Deee white.” We always mess up the first name; that’s why we give our children three first and second names, along with a nickname if the others don’t stick. Good post.

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