The struggle for civil rights for our LGBTQ+ community has been especially difficult due to the lack of political will to enact laws protecting equal rights and the right to marry.
Here, the American justice system, through voices like WHO, in bringing landmark cases, James Obergefell and his 13 co-Plaintiffs, in bringing landmark cases such as Obergefell v. Hodges, resulting in a Supreme Court declaration that people of the same sex have a Constitutional right to marry and that States cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. I originally wrote this song with my friend Ken Ellner in 1977 for my first album, “Because I’m Me.” It was originally a song about redemption from a painful break-up. For this album, I re-wrote a few of the lyrics to tell the story of a person who has found liberation by being true to themselves and who they are.
Thanks to the terrific horn score by arranger, Jeff Lesser, and a fantastic production by engineer and producer, Richard Hartline, this song now soars as the disco-style hit record that it was intended to be when I first wrote it almost 50 years ago.
Click to watch to Alan discuss “Individuality.”
Click to watch the concert performance of “Individuality.”
Read the lyrics
I remember how I lived to seize the day each morning,
How the grass it seemed to glisten while the sun shone down on morning dew
And I’d look inside my mind and think of things I’ve done
A different kind of life while I beat a different drum,
My family will different but I know I am from,
And our love is real and I don’t want to be alone
Then one night I found a note latched to my locker
We don’t like your kind we don’t want you to be around here
And I sat and I cried hoping it was all a dream
I just didn’t know who I was or where to go
For my life I have nothing and I won’t grow
Cause I gave it all to them and now it’s me that is a stranger
Because I’m me
And there ain’t no one gonna take away my individuality
And you’re you
And you can’t be blind to the narrow minds that
Hold you so you can’t be free
Cause time still marches on and your life will soon be gone
If you live in the past, it ain’t gonna last
Your eyes will be closed to the things that you suppose
And your mind will soon die if you don’t give a try
Life went on I had to find another road to walk on
I know now it’s the best thing I could have ever done
Cause I’m on my feet and I’m me
And that’s the way that life’s gonna be
I look at myself and say tomorrow’s gonna be a better day
Life’s a holiday I’m okay
I’m alive and it’s just great to be that way
Because I’m me
And there ain’t no one gonna take away my individuality
And you’re you
And you can’t be blind to the narrow minds that
Hold you so you can’t be free
Cause time still marches on and your life will soon be gone
If you live in the past, it ain’t gonna last
Your eyes will be closed to the things that you suppose
And your mind will soon die if you don’t give a try
A try to be you, to be you
Because I’m Me!