I Sang Dixie

"I Sang Dixie" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was released in October 1988 as the second single from his album Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room. In 1989, the song went to number one on the US Country chart.^[1] Rolling Stone ranked "I Sang Dixie" No. 26 on its list of the 40 Saddest Country Songs of All time in 2019.^[2]

"I Sang Dixie"
Single by Dwight Yoakam
from the album Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room
B-side	"Floyd County"
Released	October 1988
Recorded	1988
Genre	Country
Length	3:28
Label	Reprise 27715
Songwriter(s)	Dwight Yoakam
Producer(s)	Pete Anderson
Dwight Yoakam singles chronology
"Streets of Bakersfield" (1988) "I Sang Dixie" (1988) "I Got You" (1989)

Content

The song's narrator describes meeting a man from the Southern United States dying on a street in Los Angeles. The narrator, while crying, holds the man and sings 'Dixie' to comfort him as he dies. He goes on to describe how others "walk on by" ignoring the man's suffering. The dying man warns the narrator with his final words to "run back home to that southern land" and escape "what life here has done to [him]".

Chart performance

Chart (1988–1989)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks[4]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1989)	Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[5]	6
US Country Songs (Billboard)[6]	23

Demo version

Yoakam originally recorded a demo version of the song in 1981. It can be found on his 2002 boxed set, Reprise Please, Baby and on the 2006 Deluxe version of Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 403.
2. "40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 17 September 2019.
3. "Dwight Yoakam Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
4. "RPM 100 Country Singles" (PDF). RPM. February 20, 1989.
5. "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1989". RPM. December 23, 1989. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
6. "Best of 1989: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1989. Retrieved August 28, 2013.