‘I'm a Man’ is a song written by Steve Winwood and record producer Jimmy Miller. It was first recorded in 1967 by the Spencer Davis Group; Winwood sang lead vocals and played keyboards. The song was a hit in the United Kingdom and the United States, reaching No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. This was the final Spencer Davis Group release to feature Steve Winwood, who left to form Traffic. It was originally written for a documentary called Swinging London, but the band liked it so much they saved it for a single.
In a 2003 interview with the Dutch music series Top 2000 agogo, Winwood spoke about how this tune laid the groundwork for his subsequent band, Traffic. "We were kind of experimenting with what is now called world music - it didn't exist then - but Afro-Caribbean music which we'd been listening to," he explained. "'I'm A Man' was actually significant because it was the last Spencer Davis Group song before Traffic. So it was a significant transition because we were using these Afro-Caribbean elements in that music and then we went on in Traffic to combine that with many more elements like folk music and jazz and rock to try and combine all these elements."
It has been recorded by many other performers over the years, most successfully by Chicago, whose version charted at No. 8 in the UK in 1970 and No. 49 in the US in 1971. This is a different song from Bo Diddley's R&B classic number of the same name, which was later an American Top 20 hit for The Yardbirds.
The original recording was a Hammond organ-driven blues rock track released as a single by the Spencer Davis Group in early 1967, reaching No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it peaked at No. 10 in the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 48 in the magazine's Top Selling R&B Singles. It was the last hit single by the band before the brothers Steve and Muff Winwood left to pursue their own separate careers. The song is included on the band's 1967 album, I'm a Man.
Labels – Fontana (UK), United Artists (US)
Songwriters – Steve Winwood, Jimmy Miller
Producer – Jimmy Miller
SONG LYRICS
[Instrumental Intro][Verse 1]
Well, my pad is very messy
And there's whiskers on my chin
And I'm all hung up on music
And I always play to win
I ain't got no time for lovin'
'Cause my time is all used up
Just to sit around creatin'
All that groovy kind of stuff
[Chorus]
But I'm a man, yes I am
And I can't help but love you so
No, no, no, but I'm a man, yes I am
And I can't help but love you so
[Verse 2]
Well, if I had my choice of matter
I would rather be with cats
All engrossed in mental chatter
Goin' where our minds are at
And relating to each other
Just how strong our wills can be
In resisting all involvement
With each groovy chick we see
[Chorus]
I'm a man, yes I am
And I can't help but love you so
No, no, no, but I'm a man, yes I am
And I can't help but love you so
No, let me tell you, now, I said
[Verse 3]
I got to keep my image
While suspended from a throne
That looks out upon a kingdom
With people all unknown
Who imagine I'm not human
And my heart is made of stone
And I've never had no problems
And my toilet's trimmed with chrome
[Chorus]
I'm a man, yes I am
And I can't help but love you so
No, no, no, no, no, no
I'm a man, yes I am
And I can't help but love you so
No, no, no (Yes I am)
No, no, no (Keep it so, baby)
Hey, hey, hey (Hey, hey, hey)
Yes I know (Oh, hey, hey)
[Outro]
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know
Yes I know, yes I know...