What I Am


"What I Am" is a song written by Edie Brickell and Kenny Withrow and recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians for their debut album, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars. The song is highlighted by a guitar solo that emulates the approach of Jerry Garcia including the use of an envelope filter. It peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, topped the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart, and became a top-twenty hit in Australia and New Zealand. "What I Am" was ranked number 23 on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s".
English music duo Tin Tin Out collaborated with Spice Girl Emma Bunton to release a cover of "What I Am" in November 1999. This version became the more successful one in the UK, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and receiving a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry.

Composition

"What I Am" is written in the key of B minor in time with a tempo of 89 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of B–D–A, and the vocals span from G3 to B4.

Formats and track listings

7-inch single / cassette single
Side A:
  1. "What I Am" – 4:56
Side B:
  1. "I Do" – 2:00
12-inch single / 3-inch CD single
  1. "What I Am" – 4:56
  2. "I Do" – 2:00
  3. "Walk on the Wild Side" – 5:52

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Tin Tin Out and Emma Bunton version

The song was covered by English electronic music duo Tin Tin Out and English singer Emma Bunton. It was released on 1 November 1999 as the second single from Tin Tin Out's second studio album, Eleven to Fly. It also appeared on Bunton's debut solo album, A Girl Like Me.
Tin Tin Out and Bunton's version debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, 29 places higher than the original version 10 years previously, kept from the top spot by "Lift Me Up" by Bunton's fellow Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell. It sold 106,000 copies to get to number two in its first week and around 224,000 copies altogether. "What I Am" was the UK's 88th best-selling single of 1999.

Track listing

UK CD single and cassette single
  1. "What I Am" – 3:54
  2. "What I Am" – 4:07
  3. "Weird " – 5:42

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Sampling

Brickell's version of "What I Am" was featured in a 1989 episode of Miami Vice, an episode of Beavis and Butt-head, an episode of Girls, as well as an episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. and in the 1989 Patrick Dempsey film Loverboy.