Edie Brickell & New Bohemians released “What I Am” in 1988. The song spent 19 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 7. It also reached No. 24 on VH1’s “100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s.” The album, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, reached No. 4 on the Billboard albums chart.
When speaking with Vanity Fair, she described how she came up with the song. “The lyrics came from my one elective in my first year in college, world religions,” she said. “From the time I could first think, I wondered, what does the rest of the world think? I know what these Texas folks think, but what’s going on in the rest of the world? So, I took this world religions class, and I was immediately annoyed at the chatter going on in the classroom. To adopt behaviors, to adopt some sort of dogma, I felt defeated the purpose of evolution. That song just blossomed from irritation.”
When asked whether she still enjoys performing the song in a 2021 interview withSongFacts, she said, “I do not have a love/hate relationship, and I’m very grateful for that song because it allowed me to see the world. It allowed me to fulfill my dreams. It allowed me to take care of my family.”
However, she has also referred to the popularity of the song as overwhelming, telling Chronogram, “Being so overwhelmed was part of the reason I eventually decided to step away from music for a while. That, and I fell in love with a man, and for a while, I felt like I had to choose between music and having a family life. But now the band is back together, so things have come full circle.”
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Brickell is now 60. She has been married to the legendary singer and songwriter Paul Simon since 1992. They met on the set of Saturday Night Live when she was performing as the musical guest. Simon was visiting the set and watched the performance from near the cameras. The pair have three children together.
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