Lyrics
- I am who I am
-
- I'm out, I'm proud
I've done the things I vowed
Nobody gonna take away my freedom
If you believe
My friends and I should leave
You're gonna have to fight us everyone - Chorus
I am who I am, no matter what you say to me
I am who I am, no matter what you do
I am who I am, no matter what you take from me
To myself I will be true - You call me ill
My kind you want to kill
And then you sing of heaven’s love on Sunday
But I can see through your hypocrisy
It’s hatred of yourself that you betray - Chorus
- You took from me
A sense of history
I grew up learnin' how to hide my secret
But now I've found
My people all around
And you will find you ain't seen nothin' yet
- Chorus
- A sense of history
I grew up learnin' how to hide my secret
But now I've found
My people all around
And you will find you ain't seen nothin' yet - Chorus
- ©2003 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN) (3:26)
- I'm out, I'm proud
- Let it Slide
-
- I've been taken for a ride
I've been stripped of all my pride
I've been down so long I can't remember up
I've been taken for a fool
I've been stripped of all my cool
Why can't someone take away this bitter cup - Chorus
Let it slide, let it slide
Let it slide, OO-OO
Let it slide, let it slide, let it slide - From the corner of my eye
I can see the world go by
But it never stops to let me climb aboard
I'm givin'every little thing I got
In this land that time forgot
And I never seem to get my just reward - Chorus
- Aching body, aching soul
Still you keep your self-control
'til the day you start to fear
that you might drown inside your tears - Chorus
- ©1988 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN) (3:03)
- I've been taken for a ride
©2008 Ban-Anna Records. All rights reserved. All words and music written and performed by Anna Gutmanis.
- If you want a lover
-
- I been watchin' you now for quite a while
I love the things you do and I love the way you smile
I was spoken for but now you know I'm free
So I'll do the talkin’ for me
- Chorus
If you want a lover, oh-oh
To while away the hours
If you want a lover, oh-oh
To chase away the showers
If you want a lover and none of those others will do
I been wantin' somebody too
- Love's a mystery, it comes and then it goes
First it's poetry and then it's tired prose
You know that all I'm looking for is inspiration sweet
And someone to keep up the heat
- Chorus
- You know that I don't mind if we never find
Any overwhelmin' bliss
All I see is that you and me
Should be sharin' one long kiss
And I confess that my loneliness
Has been makin' me so bold
You look very fine and I'll make you mine
Before we're too much older
- ©1988 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN)
- I been watchin' you now for quite a while
- Baby doll
-
- He's caught up in a moment's passion
He wants to do what fits the fashion
He says "I will" and doesn't think of tomorrow
He loves the thought of dinner waiting
But how he misses torrid mating
He says the boss wants extra hours
And so begins a bond that will break in sorrow
- Chorus
Baby doll, some kind of baby doll
Some kind of plaything for sure
You are a baby doll, some kind of baby doll
Somethin' he'll leave on the floor
- You are the pretty second fiddle
You love the man who loves the middle
And if you leave he gonna find another
Don’t matter that his wife's gonna be a mother
- Chorus
- You only see him at his best
He never puts you to the test
And you don't have to make his meals
That's what you call a deal of deals
- ©1987 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN)
- He's caught up in a moment's passion
- Still in love
-
- After all these bountiful years
After all the laughs and all of the tears
After all that we've been through,
I'm still in love with you
After all the joy and the pain
After all the luck and labour in vain
After all that we've been through,
I'm still in love with you
- Chorus
Still in love, still in love
No matter what you do
I'm still in love with you
- After all those little regrets
After all those times we'd rather forget
After all that we've been through,
I'm still in love with you
- Chorus
- I had my share of love affairs
But I walked away time after time
Now I can see we're meant to be
Say that you'll stay
Say you’ll be mine
- Chorus
- After all these bountiful years
After all the laughs and all of the tears
After all that we've been through,
I'm still in love with you
- ©1987 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN)
- After all these bountiful years
- Then came you
-
- You said hello and then you walked on by
I must admit you didn't catch my eye
No bolt of lightning and no sound of thunder
My little heart was never torn asunder
How was I to know you'd be the star of my show?
- Chorus
I walked all alone on the cold cobblestone
Then came you, then came you
I walked all alone, never found me a home
Then came you
- You always took the time to lend a hand
You always took the time to understand
When I was with you I was never lonely
And soon I wanted to be with you only
Now you have my heart, and we are never apart
- Chorus
-
**Now all I want is to be by your side
To keep you warm and keep you satisfied
And when you put your lovin' arms around me
I know I'm lucky that you came and found me
I can truly say I love you more every day
- Chorus
- **Third verse only on Marigold Sampler version, 1993;
original 1989 album version has only two verses. - ©1986 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN)
- You said hello and then you walked on by
- Til Doomsday
-
- Can't take it, just can't take it
They used to all be friends of mine
Can't fake it, just can't fake it
Without my powder white divine
Not lyin', really tryin'
Then I seem to get a chill
Can't make it, just can't make it
Without my little pills yeah
- Chorus
Til doomsday, til doomsday, til doomsday
I won't be afraid of you
Til doomsday, til doomsday, til doomsday
I won't be afraid of you
- When I party, do it hearty
Really go and paint the town
Bartender, just befriend her
She sets 'em up, I drink 'em down
Next mornin', without a warnin'
Seems I got two burning heads
I endure it, then I cure it
With all my little reds yeah
- Chorus
-
Some day far away from it all
I'll begin to slow my pace
I won't have my back to the wall
I won't have to run any races
- Chorus
- Can't take it, just can't take it
They used to all be friends of mine
Can't fake it, just can't fake it
Without my powder white divine
Not lyin', really tryin'
Then I seem to get a chill
Can't make it, just can't make it
Without my little pills yeah
- Chorus
- ©1986 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN)
- Can't take it, just can't take it
- Out of time
-
- Now it seems our love lies peacefully sleepin'
Nothin' I can do is gonna rouse it today
Is it laid to rest or has it been keepin'
I'm afraid of wastin' all my tears
I'm afraid of wastin' my best years
- Chorus
Honey I'm out of time and I'm in a state
Honey I'm out of time and I cannot wait
Baby I'm out of time and I think it's fate
'Cause we're out of what it takes to try
- Where is all the steam heat, where is the romance
And where are all the soothin' words we could say
You know I can't remember when we last danced a slow dance
I can't remember when we put aside
All the feelin' we once could not hide
- Chorus
-
These words of mine confuse you
But this I know
I could not bear to lose you
I care for you so
- ©1988 Anna Gutmanis/Ban-Anna Music (SOCAN)
- Now it seems our love lies peacefully sleepin'
©1989 Ban-Anna Records. All rights reserved. All words and music written and performed by Anna Gutmanis.
Discography
Single - "I am who I am"
Deeply moved by the plight of LGBT people around the world, Anna has sought out legendary music producer Karen Kane
to record "I Am Who I Am", a powerful statement against homophobia that won the Pride In The Arts "2009 Pride Song" award. Single also contains song "Let It Slide".
I was in the mood to write a powerful queer liberation song. As a child, I had been inspired by Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman", which became an anthem for the Second Wave feminist movement and kick-started my own feminist consciousness. I wanted to write something that memorable and strong for the queer lib movement, and one day, it all came to me rather quickly. My being in the Sexual Diversity Studies program at U of T probably also helped matters.
I was in a very vulnerable and contemplative space. My personal life and music career seemed to be in a holding pattern, and my grandmother had passed away. When I took out my home demo version almost 20 years later, I discovered something I hadn't previously realized was there: this song was also essentially the flip-side to feeling pride in being queer. And I remembered that when I wrote it, I had also recently ended a relationship with a woman who was deeply in the closet, and I had absorbed a lot of negativity about my sexuality. It made me realize that all queers are STILL vulnerable to homophobia, including the internalized sort, especially at trying times in our lives.
- Produced and Engineered: Karen Kane
- Songs recorded and mixed August 2-5, 2007
- Recorded: Audio Genesis, Wilmington, NC
- Additional Recording and Mixing: The North Bend Room
- Mastered: João Carvalho Mastering, Toronto, CA
- CD Design: Shona Fizzell Design, Toronto, CA
- Anna Gutmanis: Keyboards, Vocals
- Tony Mallard: Drums
- Danny Pera: Bass
- Steve Horrell: Guitar
- Donnie White: Additional Keyboards
Anna's self titled ep available for
download for the first time ever!
Anna's 6-song self-titled EP released in 1989 on her own Ban-Anna Records label is now available for download. The Record called this Canadian pop/rock album a "promising debut" and its catchy reggae-tinged single "Then Came You" continues to receive airplay almost 20 years after its release.
- Produced and arranged: Robert Webber
- Engineered: Robi Banerji and Ormond Jobin
- Recorded/Mixed: Reaction Studios, Toronto
- Manufactured by Ban-Anna Records
- Album design by Helen Breznik
- Typesetting by Hawligraph Design
- Anna Gutmanis: Keyboards, Lead & Back-up Vocals
- Ken Tobias: Back-up Vocals
- Craig Manning: Back-up Vocals on "Baby doll"
- Sean McDermott: Back-up Vocals on "Baby doll" & "Til doomsday"
- Robert Webber: Back-up Vocals "If you want a lover"
- Don Zablotny: Electric Guitar
- Robert Webber: Electric & Accoustic Guitar, Percussion
- Rob Laidlaw: Bass
- Mark Heine: Bass on "Baby doll"
- Bob Mahaney: Slide Guitar on "If you want a lover"
- Randy Cook: Drums
- All songs by Anna Gutmanis (CAPAC) with exception of "Still in love"
- "Still in love", additional lyrics by Robert Webber
- "If you want a Lover" and "Out of time" © Anna Gutmanis 1988
- "Baby doll" and "Still in love" © Anna Gutmanis 1987
- "Then came you" and "Til Doomsday" © Anna Gutmanis 1986
Special thanks to Mom, Iris, Ana, Robert Webber, Ken Tobias, Joe Wood, Todd Trepanier, Chris Grim, Larry Fitzpatrick, Liz Janik and to everybody who has come out to see me perform. I also thank my friends for their moral support.
This album is dedicated to my grandmother Milda Celms (1892-1988)