ABOUT
The lead single from Janice Jo Lee's upcoming album Ancestor Song.
This is a song about taking up space / when you’ve been taught your whole life to be small and quiet / This is a song about placing myself in the centre / under the lights, downstage in the centre / Why? Because this is where I belong!"
I wrote “Here I Am” as a declaration to open my live show the night before the album release for my last record. My intention was to bring everyone together through rhythm, creating a sense of defiance and taking up public space.
I want the groove of this song to get in your body so you can’t help but throw down. The trumpet is a herald: make way, make room!
When I came up as a singer-songwriter in Kitchener-Waterloo, there were a handful of other women and femme musicians of colour in my community.
It was my dream to have them all back me up on this track like a girl gang. I’m thrilled that Alysha Brilla, Elsa Jayne, Joni NehRita, Camila Diaz-Varela and Charlena Russell joined me on this tune to say move over, we are here.
“Here I Am” reminds me that even when I’ve lost touch with myself,
I can always come back. I can start again.
lyrics
LYRICS
Mmhmm
Mmhmm
Here I am here I am here I am
Here I stand here I stand here I stand
Total command total command yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got a plan I got a plan
Verse 1: Gotta spit the truth / gotta be fearless / gotta fight to survive / find joy in my life
Gotta spit the truth / gotta be fearless / gotta fight to survive / find joy in my life
Here I am here I am here I am
Here I stand here I stand here I stand
Total command total command yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got a plan I got a plan
Spoken word: This is a song, about taking up space, when you’ve been taught your whole life, to be small and quiet. This is a song about placing myself in the centre, under the lights, downstage in the centre, why, because this is where I belong
Verse 2: A radical I am / buried deep within the sand / from my core I understand / listen to the land / My ancestors passed on / this blood this voice this song / and so I carry on / tell freedom here we come
Here I am here I am here I am
Here I stand here I stand here I stand
Total command total command yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got a plan I got a plan
Bridge: Power resides / where I believe it lives / and I know that the power it lives in my hands
Here I am here I am here I am
Here I stand here I stand here I stand
Total command total command yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got a plan I got a plan
credits
released October 4, 2022
CREDITS
Music and lyrics written by Janice Jo Lee. Produced by Janice Jo Lee and JoJo Worthington. Recorded and mixed by JoJo Worthington. Mastered by Sage Kim. Lead vocals and water cup percussion by Janice Jo Lee. Background vocals by Alysha Brilla, Camila Diaz-Varela, Charlena Russell, Elsa Jayne, and Joni NehRita. Justin Thomas James on Wurlitzer. Lonny Knapp on guitar. Nim Agalawatte on bass. Rudy Ray on Trumpet. Vania Lee on drum kit. Here I Am photo by Hannah Yoon. Here I Am photo design by Eric Chengyang.
Janice Jo Lee is a folk artist rooted in Tkaronto, Ontario. She performs original soul-folk music, and is a spoken word artist and storyteller. Coming up is her album Ancestor Song.
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