Best Dwight Yoakam Songs to Learn on Guitar

This page features some of his best-loved songs like “Guitars & Cadillacs,” “Fast As You,” and “I Sang Dixie.” Each lesson includes chord charts, strumming patterns, and demo videos to help you play these classics with confidence.

1000 Miles is a melancholic ballad by Dwight Yoakam from his 1987 album "Hillbilly Deluxe." It wasn't released as a single or have a music video.

The song expresses longing for a distant lover using just three chords, making it popular for acoustic performances. Yoakam performed it live on TV shows and in concerts.

1000 Miles From Nowhere is a song by Dwight Yoakam from his 1993 album "This Time." It reached #2 on the US country charts and appeared in two movies.

The song tells of a man escaping his troubles in a distant small town. An official music video was made, featuring Yoakam driving through the Mojave Desert and performing in a bar, with Kelly Willis appearing.

The song has been covered by other artists.

Ain't That Lonely Yet was the lead single from Dwight Yoakam's 1993 album "This Time." It reached #2 in the US, #1 in Canada, and won a Grammy for Best Male Vocal Performance. Co-written by Kostas and James House.

The song portrays a man trying to convince himself he's not lonely after a breakup. The official music video, directed by Carolyn Mayera and co-directed by Yoakam, was filmed in black and white and won the 1993 CMA Video of the Year.

Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room (She Wore Red Dresses)" is a song from Dwight Yoakam's 1988 album of the same name. Written by Yoakam, it peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

The song depicts a man's doomed infatuation with a woman who wears red dresses. An official music video, directed by Les Rose, was filmed in black and white, featuring Yoakam performing in a dimly-lit room interspersed with scenes of a woman in red dresses.

Close Up The Honky Tonks was written by Red Simpson, was recorded by Dwight Yoakam for his 2007 album "Dwight Sings Buck".

Not released as a single, the song has been covered by artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. It tells of a heartbroken man asking a bartender to close the honky tonks to escape reminders of his lost love.

Yoakam's version captures the classic country sound, but no official music video was produced for his recording. There was no official music video produced for this track.

Fast As You is a song that Dwight Yoakam recorded for his album titled "This Time," which was released in 1993 and was written by Dwight Yoakam himself.

The track was released as a single by Yoakam in 1993. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and became one of Yoakam's most successful singles.

The story of "Fast As You" is about a man who is trying to convince his lover that he is the one for her. He boasts about his ability to keep up with her and says that he can love her "as fast as" she can run. The song's catchy guitar riff and upbeat tempo give it a rockabilly feel, and Yoakam's energetic vocals capture the confident and playful tone of the lyrics.

An official music video was produced for "Fast As You." The video was directed by Marcus Nispel and features Yoakam performing the song with his band in a warehouse while various images are projected onto the walls behind them. The video's edgy and stylized look reflects the song's rockabilly vibe and helped to further popularize the single.

Guitars And Cadillacs is a Dwight Yoakam country song that he wrote himself. From the "Guitars Cadillacs Etc Etc" of 1986, he scored a #4 in the US and a #2 in Canada with this song. The wild guitar playing on this track is from album producer Pete Anderson who also played on other songs with Dwight.

"Guitars, Cadillacs" is about a man who has left behind his old life to pursue his dreams of playing music and driving fast cars. He sings about his love for guitars and Cadillac cars and how they represent the freedom and excitement of his new life. The song's twangy guitar riffs and upbeat tempo capture the energy and enthusiasm of Yoakam's character.

The song made an appearance in two Terminator films, Judgement Day and Dark Fate. American rockers The Protomen also covered this song. 

Home For Sale is another song written by Dwight Yoakam from his "This Time" album from 1993, which by the way, was his biggest selling album. 

This song was not selected for a single release but a great song for the acoustic player.

There was no official music video produced for "Home For Sale," as it was not released as a single from the album. However, Yoakam did perform the song on various television programs and during live performances.

Home Of The Blues is a song written by Johnny Cash and two others back in the 1950s which Dwight covered for his 1988 album Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room. This track was not released as a single.

I Got You was the third single from this album of 1988 called "Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room" and hit the air waves in 1989, peaking at #5 in both the US and Canada.

I Sang Dixie was the 2nd single from Dwight's "Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room" album released back in 1988 and was a #1 on the US and Canadian country charts. He had written the song several years earlier and recorded a demo back in 1981, but never got around to putting in on an album until 1988.

An official music video was produced for "I Sang Dixie". The video was directed by Dominic Sena and features Dwight Yoakam singing in a desert setting while a story involving the song's subject matter plays out.

It Only Hurts ...hails from Dwight's 1990 album If There Was A Way.

Johnson's Love is another great number written by Dwight Yoakam. Johnson's Love is a ballad and was one of three slow songs Dwight wrote early in his career. 7 of the 10 songs on the Hillbilly Deluxe album were written by Dwight and three were covers.

This particular song was not one of the four singles from the album.

Love Caught Up To Me is the opening track on Dwight Yoakam’s eleventh studio album, Tomorrow’s Sounds Today, released on October 31, 2000. While the song was not released as a single and did not chart, the album itself was a success, reaching number seven on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Written by Yoakam and produced by his longtime collaborator Pete Anderson, the track features a bright, up-tempo Bakersfield sound fueled by jangling guitars and soaring harmonies from Jim Lauderdale. A notable piece of trivia is that the album marked the final studio collaboration between Yoakam and Reprise Records before he moved to Warner Bros. Additionally, the project is famous for its "full circle" moment, featuring two duets with Yoakam’s idol, Buck Owens.

Pocket Of A Clown is from the 1994 album "This Time" and was released as a singl. There were five singles from the album and three went to #2, one went to #14 and this one peaked at #22 in the US and #4 in Canada.

The song was written by Dwight and a music video was also produced for the song.

Population Me is a track from the 2003 album of the same name but there were only two singles released from the record, and this song didn't make the cut.

Purple Rain of course is a song initially recorded by Price back in 1984 and the song peaked at #2 on the charts in the US.

Dwight Yoakam put this track on his 2017 album "Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars" but he performed the song bluegrass style. 

Below are the Dwight Yoakam Purple Rain chords needed for this one.

Sloop John B ... Dwight did a cover of this Beach Boys classic back in 2012 at The Live Room at EastWest Studios in Holly California.

I don't believe he ever recorded the song for an album or single.

Sorry You Asked was a single from the 1995 album entitled "Gone". It managed to climb to #59 in the US and #73 in Canada.

Stop The World And Let Me Off was played by Dwight in concert as a tribute to Waylon Jennings who had success with this song, but Waylon wasn't the first to record this song. In fact it was by Carl Belew who wrote and recorded it back in 1957. And then later that year Patsy Cline did a version and had success with the song.

Waylon did his version in 1965.

Dwight's version can be found on the compilation album "Dwight's Used Records" from 2004.

The Back Of Your Hand was one of two singles released in 2003 but neither song cracked the top 40 country singles chart. When an artist signs with a label, those labels have influence on getting your songs on the radio. The larger the label, the more influence.

Dwight changed labels from Reprise to Warner Bros and for this album to a much weaker label called Audium out of NYC. They never had the clout to get much airplay for this album called "Population Me".

It was also the last album with guitarist and producer Pete Anderson after a 20 year friendship which ended up in a court battle.

The Streets Of Bakersfield was Dwight Yoakam's first #1 in the US but his first #1 was Honky Tonk Man in Canada two years earlier.

From his "Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room" album of 1988, The Streets Of Bakersfield was a duet with his mentor Buck Owens. Homer Joy wrote the song years earlier and it was recorded by Buck back in 1972, but he had little commercial success at that time.

This duet version was the first time Buck Owens had seen a #1 in 16 years.

Things Change hails from the album "A Long Way Home" which was the 9th album from Dwight Yoakam and hit the airwaves in 1998. This song was one of two singles from that album and reached #17 on the US country charts.

This song was also written by Dwight Yoakam.

Turn It Up Turn It On Turn Me Loose is one of five singles that came off of this one album in 1990 with Dwight's "If There Was A Way" album. Two songs were in the top 10 and the other three were in the top 20, including this one, which peaked at #11 in the US and #5 in Canada.

The song was co-written by Kostas and Wayland Patton.

Two Doors Down can be found on the 1993 album "This Time".

Dwight co-wrote this song with Nashville writer Kostas.

Of the 5 singles released from this album, this song was not one of them.

You're The One was a 1991 single which was was released from the album "If There Was A Way" and peaked at #5 in the US and #4 in Canada. There was also a music video created for the song.

This is another song that Yoakam had written 9 years earlier and it sat and gathered dust until it found it's place on this album.