“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” |
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.
What 16-year-old dreams of seeing the seven wonders? What 16-year-old knows what those even ARE?
I would be one. Not all 16-year-olds are the same. I was listing to Tom T. Hall’s Old Dogs, Children & Watermelon Wine when I was younger than 16. A very adult song. Does it take on more meaning as I age. Yes, but I never acted like a kid or enjoyed kid stuff. We are all different. Kids have a variety of emotions and that’s why I hate phrased like “Kids will be kids” or “Boys will be boys”. Simply not true in my experiences.
Oh, do I especially agree with the last few sentences in your second post! I’ve seen and known some kids and teens who come across as having more maturity and wisdom than some adults I’ve come across.
And I also fall in the camp who doesn’t need every song by every artist to be autobiographical or completely “authentic” to be enjoyable or believable for me. Just like how I don’t need every artist to write every song they sing. I love your point about singers being like actors.
This song isn’t without its flaws but I always thought it was better than the sum of its parts. I like Tom P’s comment that she seems like an old soul because I think Andrews does a good job finding the balance between selling an age-appropriate lyric while still coming across as wise beyond her years. She seems grounded and mature, not vapid or embittered. She explained in an interview that her grandmother wasn’t really named Rosemary, but it’s nonetheless the song’s emotional high point and she delivers it with charisma. It makes up for some of the other more rookie-sounding vocal mannerisms on the record, particularly the “alri-igh-igh-igh-ight” affects which didn’t work so well for me.
I was struck that after this career record, Jessica Andrews had absolutely zero momentum. I had to look up what her next single was from her sophomore album because I was drawing a complete blank. Even after seeing the title “Helplessly, Hopelessly”, I’m still drawing a blank about what that song sounded like. Whatever the case, I’ll concur with others in praising the modest hit from her third album, “There’s to Me Than You”. The uptempo single provided a much-needed burst of adrenaline to the radio airwaves in 2003. It’s too bad we couldn’t have heard more from her but I’m guessing she still made bank from the legacy of “Who I Am”. It was used as the theme song for the TV show “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye” in the mid-2000s. I never watched the show but happened to leave it on a channel that it was on when the familiar-sounding opening guitar riffs, followed by the vocals of Jessica Andrews, awakened me from my distraction.
Grade: B
Solid B for the song and album (which has a lovely cover of Maria McKee’s oft-covered Show Me Heaven). That said, I liked her first album far better; Unbreakabke Heart vies with There’s More To Me Than You as her best single.
I used to find this song endearing when I thought it was autobiographical, but knowing it isnt made it lose some of its luster. I think country gets too caught up in authenticity sometimes, but for a song this simple and list-y, it needs to be more authentic to resonate with me more.
It’s a good song – maybe a B+
It was also the theme song for a quite good Canadian-produced television show loosely based on the story of the first deaf FBI agent Sue Thomas. The song perfectly fit the show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Thomas_(FBI_specialist)
The show has been aired continuously over the last two decades starring deaf actress Deana Bray-Kotsur. The show currently is airing on the Ovation network
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Thomas:_F.B.Eye
Danielle Bradberry performed the song on THE VOICE
I also have to respectfully disagree with Kevin on this one.
I personally think this is a very charming record, with a certain mix of innocence and wise beyond her (then 16-17) years that just makes it very likeable for me. I love that she’s simply confident and proud of who she is, flaws and all, and how close she is to her family. The line “When the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan” always warms my heart, especially. And I love how she knows everything will still be alright even if she doesn’t always get things right or have any major earth shattering accomplishments, because her loved ones will always be there for her, and she’s comfortable with herself. Jessica may not have wrote it, and she may not have an actual grandmother named Rosemary, but she still sells it for me with her vocal performance that walks a fine line of sounding like both a joyful teen and sounding mature and confident. I also love the pretty sounding fiddle that opens the song and is featured in other places throughout, which nicely balances out the more pop influences in the production and arrangement.
Like Tom P above, I always felt I could identify with this song as a teen myself because I often felt like an old soul during my teen years, while at the same time feeling younger than my age sometimes, as well. I always felt more old fashioned compared to many of my classmates. I often hung out with and talked to adults more than my peers. And like Tom P, I listened to music that most people my age in high school wouldn’t have been caught dead listening to (At 15, when this song came out, I was listening to a lot of country that was about a decade or so older when listening to my old cassette tapes. I was also loving and discovering a lot of 80s country). I could also identify with the narrator being close to her family, because my parents have always been my best and closest friends that I loved doing everything with. And I knew they would always love me and have my back, despite me being “clueless and clumsy” sometimes and not always getting the best grades. While I now feel much younger than my age due to autism, with me still feeling about 12-14 most of the time, I also feel like a kid/teen who can appreciate and enjoy mature/adult oriented stuff along with kid/teen friendly things, if that makes any sense. I can still relate to the song today because I now know and understand myself better than I ever have after learning about my autism, and I feel more confident about myself these days, as well. And yes, my Mama is still my biggest fan today!
Despite me saying above that most of my classmates in high school didn’t like country music, there was actually one girl in one of my classes in my sophomore year who loved this song and Jessica Andrews, which I thought was neat. She would tell others in the class how much she loved this song, and one time when we weren’t busy doing anything, she listened to Jessica’s Who I Am CD on her portable CD player. This same girl also liked the Chicks, and I could hear “Without You” coming from her headphones on another occasion she was playing a CD.
The music video for “Who I Am” was also one of the most popular ones on GAC around late 2000/early 2001, and it seemed like it came on every time I would flip it to that channel. For me, it’s as charming as the song is, and I love the scenes of Jessica on the swing and enjoying nature and the flowers, along with the old photos and older footage of her and her parents when she was much younger. Again, I like how she acts like a sweet, fun loving teen while also coming across as more mature beyond her years.
I agree with another poster above that Jessica’s debut album, Heart Shaped World, is my most favorite of hers with absolutely no skips on it for me. I also think “Unbreakable Heart” is her overall best single, and it still gives me chills and makes me stop whatever I’m doing whenever I hear it. It just has such a beautiful melody, and I love how she sings it, plus it always takes me back to being in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania around early 2000. I also love the other two singles, “I Will Be There For You” and “You Go First” which also bring back great memories of being in PA, along with playing the golf game, Links LS ’99 on the computer at home. That said, I also enjoy a lot of the Who I Am album, as well, with other favorites of mine being “Every Time,” “Helplessy, Hopelessly” “Karma,” “Never Had It So Good,” “Now I Know,” and “Wishing Well.” I also agree with others that “There’s More To Me Than You” is a great song that should’ve done much better for her. Her third album, Now, also has some good stuff on there I like a lot, especially “When Gentry Plays Guitar” and the title cut coming to mind. I really wish she was able to have more radio success, overall! I enjoyed most all of her singles.
While I know this may be a more unpopular opinion, I personally love how many younger artists in their teens and preteens got to shine around the late 90s and early 2000s, which I guess was a result of LeAnn Rimes’ explosion in popularity in the mid 90s. It was just really neat to hear some artists who were closer around my age on the radio and see them featured on the award shows alongside the mature, much older adult artists. It was yet another cool element that added to the variety in mainstream country during that time, imo. Some of my other favorites from that era besides Rimes and Jessica Andrews are Lila McCann, The Wilkinsons, Alecia Elliot, Adam Gregory (more popular in his native Canada), and Billy Gilman. I’ve also recently rediscovered Ashley Grearing’s “Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You”, which I’ve been enjoying (and can relate to a lot). I personally miss having more such younger voices being represented in country. The irony for me is that I find a lot of the material that those young artists recorded to be much more refreshingly mature and thoughtful than the modern bro-country, partying, drinking, “I’m country!” chest thumping, angry break up stuff that’s mostly sung and written by adults today.
I really liked that Ashley Gearing song you referenced. I heard it on the radio driving into Grand Rapids, Minnesota, back in 2003, and was moved by it. I happened to stop at the Walmart in town about 15 minutes and rummaged through the CD aisle. I found Gearing’s single for “Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You?” and bought it. She had such a sweet tone. She definitely needed some additional vocal training because she was ready for primetime but I’m surprised they didn’t successfully groom her for some level of stardom.
“Can You Hear Me When I Talk to You?” probably would have been a smash had she been on almost any other label than Curb Records. I still love the ending of that song.
This hit always seemed to dance all around some vague moment of real significance, or a strong identity statement, without ever actually landing on it for me.
What’s that Jimmie Dale?
Oh, Your just a wave, you’re not the water.