By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records.), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.
McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) , Siberia (2005), and the latest addition, The Fountain (2009). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.
Echo and the Bunnymen were managed early on by Bill Drummond, who went on to be a founder member of The KLF.
Do You Know Who I Am?
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics
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Live it, hate it
Want it, had it
Need it, got it
Take it, took it
Shaked it, shoked it
Do you know who I am?
Do you know what I've got?
Do you know who I am?
Cause I know what you're not
Read it, wrote it
Heard it, spoked it
Made it, broked it
Do you know who I am?
Do you know what I've got?
Do you know who I am?
Cause I know what you're not
Love it, hate it
Want it, had it
Need it, got it
The lyrics to Echo & the Bunnymen's "Do You Know Who I Am?" are deceptively simple, consisting mainly of a repetition of three phrases: "Live it, hate it, want it, had it, need it, got it, take it, took it, shaked it, shoked it, flaked it, flucked it, read it, wrote it, heard it, spoked it, made it, broked it, love it, hate it, want it, had it, need it, got it." However, these phrases take on a greater significance when they are seen as a commentary on the human condition - the constant struggle for power, success, and self-identity. The repetition of these phrases, each time with a different verb, creates a sense of neverending motion, reflecting the endless cycle of human desire and achievement.
The chorus of the song - "Do you know who I am? Do you know what I've got? Do you know who I am? Cause I know what you're not" - brings a more personal dimension to the lyrics, hinting at an individual's need for validation and recognition in a society obsessed with status and material possessions. The repetition of the question "Do you know who I am?" suggests a sense of insecurity or lost identity, while the assertion "Cause I know what you're not" implies a superiority complex or a belief in one's innate worthiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you know who I am?
Asking if the listener recognizes the singer's identity
Live it, hate it
Expressing ambivalence towards an experience
Want it, had it
Desiring something that has already been obtained
Need it, got it
Reinforcing the possession of something that fulfills a requirement
Take it, took it
Emphasizing a sense of agency in acquiring something
Shaked it, shoked it
Expressing that something has been handled or disturbed
Flaked it, flucked it
Asserting distaste for an experience
Do you know what I've got?
Asking if the listener knows what possessions the artist has
Cause I know what you're not
Asserting that the artist has some trait that the listener lacks
Read it, wrote it
Indicating familiarity with an idea or text
Heard it, spoked it
Indicating familiarity with an idea or conversation
Made it, broked it
Asserting responsibility for creating or destroying something
Love it, hate it
Expressing ambivalence towards an experience
Want it, had it
Desiring something that has already been obtained
Need it, got it
Reinforcing the possession of something that fulfills a requirement
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: WILLIAM SERGEANT, IAN STEPHEN MCCULLOCH, JOHN IGNATIUS MCLAUGHLIN, SIMON PERRY, DAVID ROBERT THOMAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind