lyrics help

[obvvv]

hey there guys, anyone know what the backing vocals are saying in the song "i am what i am"? i coudnt figure it out.

[PopeJez]

Hey, tell us about it
Hey, tell us some more
Hey, tell us about it J
We've heard that all before

[jadams501]

One of my favorites from the album, and those backing vocals are the best part. One of J's best uses of the gospel choir.

[obvvv]

thanks for the lyrics, PopeJez, much appreciated.
yes, jadams501, it is one of my favorites from the album as well. great album, my favorite of 2012.

[PopeJez]

I think it's one of those perfect Spiritualized songs. Clever wordplay (reminds me of I Think I'm In Love in that respect) with fantastic fuzzy music. There's a BBC session version of it from years ago that was no where near as good.

[mojo filters]

There's a BBC session version of it from years ago that was no where near as good.

Yeah - it was on Mary Ann Hobb's Breezeblock dated 1998 on my version. The tune is really simple and boring, while the pace is too fast and makes the lyrics hard to discern properly. Definitely for completists only, and if you're a massive fan of the song it's so different and unimpressive, you'll likely think WTF?! when you hear it - I certainly did.

[ro]

ooh, I love the earlier one, I love them both.
different vibe, different energy.

it is the lyrics that win in the end I think.. you could put them in a burlap sack and they'd still sound great!

[mojo filters]

it is the lyrics that win in the end I think.. you could put them in a burlap sack and they'd still sound great!

I agree the lyrics are great. What really surprised me about the 98 version was how that song went so fast the lyrics are unintelligible in places, due to the speed of delivery. Hence I could see why that version was never properly recorded, as the tune was not a worthy delivery vehicle for those words.

Maybe there is more than one early version, as the one I have has a very dull tune. The whole song, both verses and chorus, is just a I > IV chord progression, repeated over and over with absolutely no change in dynamics nor anything else to make the music interesting.

[tav falco]

what about lyrics to 'A Song' then ?