“Who I Am”
Jessica Andrews
Written by Brett James and Troy Verges
Radio & Records
#1 (4 weeks)
March 30 – April 20, 2001
Billboard
#1 (3 weeks)
April 7 – April 21, 2001
It’s a credit to Jessica Andrews that she sells this so well that I’m surprised to learn that she’s not, in fact, Rosemary’s granddaughter.
But when an autobiographical hit isn’t your own story, you really start pushing up against the increasing artifice of country music at the turn of the century.
It’s not like teenage girls have nothing interesting to say. We’d learn that with certainty before the decade was through. But this catchy hit is all froth and no substance, with a laundry list of vague value statements (“they know just where I stand!”) and character traits (“I’m clueless and I’m clumsy”) that don’t add up to much.
This would be Andrews’ only major radio hit, another sign of the times where long runs at the top don’t lead to big record sales or follow up hits. But she did revisit the top twenty with the quite good “There’s More to Me Than You,” which came in both uptempo and ballad forms. It’s her best single to date.
“Who I Am” gets a B-.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
Previous: Diamond Rio, “One More Day” |
Next: Brooks & Dunn, “Ain’t Nothin’ ‘Bout You”
I always found this one painfully artificial. Not a single word of it sounds authentic or original, and I don’t think her bland vocals or the generic production do it any favors. I gave it a D.
She had good singles, especially “There’s More to Me Than You”.
Also, why the hell did this make the Latin Pop Airplay chart?!
I will respectfully disagaree. I give this one an “A-“. I find it much more authentic than what’s to come from Taylor Swift. She sounds like a teenager but with and old soul and I relate to that as I always liked music (& stuff) that were much older than my age would have you thinking I would like. I don’t think music has to be autobiographical to be good. To me singers are like actors. In fact I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that over 90% of material from the mid-80’s to present is probably fictional.