Mirando, Mark Bance 5 April 2017 / Song Analysis

Eng 11 / Theatre Arts / 2013-00862 Prof. Lalaine Yanilla Aquino

We Are What We Are:

an analysis of La Cage Aux Folles I Am What I Am

When I was young, I never really understood what it meant to be a bakla. I never

understood the spit ball of words my childhood neighbours threw at me when I danced to the

dance craze spaghetti at the time. I never understood the strict borders between pink and blue,

between manika and laruang kotse, between palda and jerseys. I never understood why these

boundaries existed, and why I was on the wrong side of the wall. Nonetheless, I kept going,

and I became who I am now, someone strong, both mentally and emotionally, and someone who

loves himself and who is willing to help others love themselves too. My name is Mark Mirando

and I am what I am.

I Am What I Am was a song featured in the hit musical La Cage Aux Folles, based on

the French novel of the same name1. It was one of the many poetry pieces which tackled freedom

of expression especially in the LGBTQ+ community. The song was composed by Jerry

Hermann, an openly gay man, as a finale for the first act of the musical2. The song has many

renditions from various artists and was known to be the gay anthem of the LGBTQ+ community

and is frequently sung in many gay pride parades. Other than its strong social and historical

relevance, the song was also known for its provocative, vivid and piquant lyrics.

One of Hermanns composition style was the usage of the catch phrase I am what I am

at the top and at the end of every stanza and this repetition of phrase was usually seen in ballads3.

In literary devices4, anaphora was the repetition of same words or set of words used in a

paragraph. On one hand, allusion was the repetition of vowels in a paragraph. In the song,

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vowels I and A were frequently utilized. The song was also rich in literary devices and

rhymes. Some of the devices used by the writer were the usage of onomatopoeia (bang),

personification (hey world!), hyperbole (shout out loud) and metaphor (closet). The song also

made use of many end rhymes which created an a-b-c-dd-aaa-e-f-e-gg-h-aa-i-j-i-kk-l-a

rhyming scheme. The utilization of these styles created a smooth sailing sound effect which

proved the songs worth as a sample of poetry.

These qualities made the song evoke rich emotions to its listeners and to me. This was the

most important aspect of poetry. Poetry gave us a sneak peek of rich imageries as we read it

aloud. This song made me understand what it means to stand up to every oppressors that I

encounter, to open up my closet to the whole word, to wear the clothes I wanted to wear and to

sing the song I had loved to sing. It also made me realized what it meant to be an individual born

in the wrong side of the wall. I learned to pick myself up from the dirt and still go with it. I

chose this song because this was an outcry to me and to every individual trapped in their social

contract. Finally, this song made me believe the infinite power of poetry. As one of Spains

greatest poets, Miguel Hernandez5, wrote:

...One need to be a miner of poems to see in its Ethiopias of Darkness its Indias of light.
A salt-wizened truth situated between blue and spring. Who sees that the sea in truth is white?
Nobody. Nevertheless it exists, it flutters, it alludes in its sculpted spume to the color of the
crescent moon. The clear sea --- would it be as beautiful as its secret if it were suddenly
clarified? Its greater beauty lies in its secrecy... the poem has to work as with the Holy
Sacrament... when will the poet come with a poem in his fingers, like a priest with the host,
saying Here is GOD and we will believe it.

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I Am What I Am by Jerry Hermann

Rhyming Schemes a-b-c-dd-aaa-e-f-e-gg-h-aa-i-j-i-kk-l-a

I am what I am [a]
I am my own special creation. [b]
So come take a look, [c]
Give me the hook or the ovation. [b]
It's my world that I want to take a little pride in, [d]
My world, and it's not a place I have to hide in. [d]
Life's not worth a damn, [a]
'Til you can say, "Hey world, I am what I am." [a]

I am what I am, [a]

I don't want praise, I don't want pity. [e]
I bang my own drum, [f]
Some think it's noise, I think it's pretty. [e]
And so what, if I love each feather and each spangle, [g]
Why not try to see things from a diff'rent angle? [g]
Your life is a sham 'til you can shout out loud [h]
I am what I am! [a]

I am what I am [a]
And what I am needs no excuses. [i]
I deal my own deck [j]
Sometimes the ace, sometimes the deuces. [i]
There's one life, and there's no return and no deposit; [k]
One life, so it's time to open up your closet. [l]
Life's not worth a damn 'til you can say, [k]
"Hey world, I am what I am!" [a]

END NOTES:

1
_____________. La Cage Aux Folles I Am What I Am. 3 March 2017. Retrieved from
http://www.musicals101.com/1980bway2.html.
2
Ibid.
3
Taken from one of Prof. Lanillas Eng 11 lecture in prosody.
4
____________. Figure of Speech. 3 Marc 2017. Retrieved from https://literaryterms.net/figures-of-speech/.
5
Miguel Hernandez and Ted Genoways. 2001. Selected Poems of Miguel Hernandez. The University of Chicago
Press.

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