I Am What I Am

   E                             F       G        C
I just can't sing to any man the song he wants to hear
       F                   G
And I know that some won't like me
       C             Am
Others try to be my friend
   F                         G          C
But I'm all of me and that's all that I am

[Chorus]
        E
And if life is for the living
       F       G         C
Then why can't men be real
           F              C
'Stead of hidin' in their costumes?
F                  E
Forgettin' how to feel
F            G     C
Forgettin' how to feel

[Verse 2]
    C                                 F     G       C
We still live in a time when manners cover what is real
          E                           F       G       C
There's a basic fact of life that the times cannot conceal
        F           G
That if some are masqueraders
        C            Am
Others live in their facade
F                           G             C
But I'm what I am, I cannot be what I am not

[Chorus]
        E
And if life is for the living
       F       G         C
Then why can't men be real
           F              C
'Stead of hidin' in their costumes?
F                  E
Forgettin' how to feel
F            G     C
Forgettin' how to feel

[Interlude]
D G

[Verse 3]
   C                      F          G    C
I may be too honest and offend those who pretend
        E                                F    G      C
I don't claim I'm always right, that I'm everybody's friend
   F                  G          C       G      Am
Perhaps for them it's easier to be what they are not
F
But I'm what I am
       G                    C
And I just can't play that part

[Chorus]
        E
And if life is for the living
       F       G         C
Then why can't men be real
           F              C
'Stead of hidin' in their costumes?
F                  E
Forgettin' how to feel
F            G     C
Forgettin' how to feel