Tag: A Thousand Miles From Nowhere

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

Five of my Favorite Country Songs

The good thing about Star Trek being over is…I can start posting a couple of music things on Saturday and Sunday.

I grew up near Nashville so it did leave its imprint on me but I don’t listen to modern country music. I do include some songs that are more country/rock but they fit what I like. They are in no particular order…well my favorite admittedly is the top one.

Hope you enjoy the small sample platter of country songs.

This song is my favorite of the Flying Burrito Brothers. It came off their great  album The Gilded Palace of Sin.  It didn’t chart at the time. Parsons wrote this song with Burrito bass player Chris Ethridge while the band was living in their San Fernando Valley house that was dubbed “Burrito Manor.”

Merle Haggard was a constant on the radio here with my parents. He wrote so many classic songs and this is one of them…Mama Tried.

Merle Haggard wrote this song while serving time in San Quentin prison for robbery. The song is based on his life, and how his mother tried to help him but couldn’t… Mama Tried came out in 1968 and peaked at #1 on the Country Charts and #1 in the Canada Country Charts in 1968.

The man had 38 number-one hits, 71 top-ten hits, and 101 songs in the top 100 in the country charts. Merle is one of my favorite country artists. If only the new ones would listen and learn.

Hank Williams is one of my favorite country artists. He could write songs of great quality but the ironic thing is…this one is one of the few he didn’t write. His nickname…The Hillbilly Shakespeare is true to form. Hank Williams released this song in 1949 and it peaked at #12 on the Country Charts. It was written by Leon Payne.

Loretta Lynn is my favorite female country singer with apologies to Dolly Parton. This is a song that she did with Jack White called Portland Oregon. If the modern country was like this…I would listen. Their voices go really well with each other.  Country radio would not play it but the album still peaked at #2 on the Country Charts and #24 on the Billboard Album Charts and #1 on the UK Country Charts in 2004.

They didn’t win any country music awards but came away with two Grammys.

I love the build-up to this song…Jack White builds this up and Loretta starts singing around 1:40.

Now to finish it out with 5 songs…I thought I would add Dwight Yoakam who was inspired by Buck Owen’s Bakersville Sound. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Country Charts and at #3 in Canada in 1993. It 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.

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