Lyrics to
When You Are Who You Are

This version of When You Are Who You Are was released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1971.

Our Gil Scott-Heron Songs profile has When You Are Who You Are lyrics from 1971 and most if not all of the lyrics by Gil Scott-Heron that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Gil Scott-Heron or about the 1970s in general.

You always go out of your way to impress me
Don’t you know by now, ain’t no need to impress me
I’m impressed every time you smile
When I feel like you mean to smile

You can be so very beautiful
When you are who you are

Every morning when you wake up you put on a new disguise
How long did you think it would take me to realize?
Girl, the things you wore ain’t real
You never tell me just how you feel

Girl you can be so very beautiful
When you are who you are

People never seem to want to be themselves
So they end up running in circles confused
Yeah, confused
Just like everyone else

Every morning when you wake up you put on a new disguise
Just how long did you think it would take me to realize
That the things you wore ain’t real
You never tell me just how you feel

When you could be so very beautiful
When you are who you are
Yeah, when you are who you are, yeah
Oh, when you are who you are, yeah
When you are who you are, yeah
When you are who you are
Get it, get it, get it, get it, get it, get it, get it

When you are who you are, yeah
Oh when you are who you are, yeah
Oh when you are who you are, yeah
Oh when you are who you are

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Want more lyrics and songs by Gil Scott-Heron?

Gil Scott-Heron has released many songs over the years besides When You Are Who You Are. Gil Scott-Heron released songs from 1970 to 2005 spanning across albums like Small Talk At 125th And Lenox, Pieces Of A Man, Free Will, Winter In America, The First Minute Of A New Day, It's Your World, From South Africa To South Carolina, Bridges, Secrets, The Mind Of Gil Scott-Heron, 1980, Real Eyes, Reflections, Moving Target, Spirits, and Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Messages (Anthology). Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Gil Scott-Heron.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and When You Are Who You Are by Gil Scott-Heron

The lyrics to When You Are Who You Are are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Gil Scott-Heron in 1971. Elements of the lyrics to When You Are Who You Are are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Gil Scott-Heron and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for When You Are Who You Are back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to When You Are Who You Are by Gil Scott-Heron in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to When You Are Who You Are" means the words set to the music of When You Are Who You Are, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Gil Scott-Heron. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to When You Are Who You Are and the lyrics to When You Are Who You Are are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Gil Scott-Heron who came here looking just for the lyrics to When You Are Who You Are, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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