Lyrics for What I Am as interpreted by Hosimosi

What I Am Lyrics
I'm not aware of too many things,
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box
Religion is the smile on a dog

I'm not aware of too many things,
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Choke me in the shallow water
Before I get too deep

What I am is what I am.
Are you what you are - or what

I'm not aware of too many things,
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks
Religion is a light in the fog

I'm not aware of too many things,
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Choke me in the shallow water
Before I get too deep

What I am is what I am
Are you what you are - or what
Don't let me get too deep

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theMaxx
07-23-2002

Rated 0 
"Choke me in the shallow water"

eh? Could someone enlighten me and tell me what the heck she means? Cuz I give up.....


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emoxslut
08-01-2002

Rated 0 
I always thought it was "shove me in the shallow water" i dunno... but if it is choke then maybe she means kill me now before it gets worse. just a thought

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susanlprince
08-15-2002

Rated 0 
That lyric puzzled me in the 1980's until I heard her in an interview. She wasn't commenting on the song lyric but she was commenting that her personality was one that wasn't into thinking "deep" and wanted to keep things simple. I figure that lyric says just that...I'd rather die now than try to figure it all out. What I am is a simple saying...why figure it out?!

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Navigator
08-31-2002

Rated 0 
Yeah, I always thought it was "shove me," too. This is a really great song, though.

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marlyshmarly
03-08-2003

Rated 0 
i can remeber being about 3 years old and listening to this in the car with my mom and giggling at the mention of a cereal box and a smiling dog. excellent.

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bloodybitch
06-30-2003

Rated 0 
I've always liked this song. "What I am is what I am, are you what you are or what?" In other words, she doesn't pretend to be something she isn't.. It's also about keeping life simple, and uncomplicated, I think.

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Trillium07
10-05-2004

Rated 0 
We have to do a project on this song at school, and I can NOT figure out what it means to me! It dosen't mean anything (to me at least). I have to write a page...

Is it about individuality? I don't know...

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stoolhardy
08-11-2005

Rated 0 
She doesn't give much of a hoot about philosophy and religion. She just wants to live life and not think too deep about things. The sort of lyrics for someone who has nothing to say? I think "choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep" means don't let me take life too seriously or think about things too much. "Shove me in the shallow water " seems more appropriate though and less forceful though...

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dejavula
07-01-2007

Rated 0 
Love this song! Its so simple, it basically mean she wants to be a hippy and not have to worry about a big burden and live a simple life, she woes not want to know about philosophy or religion and the choke me in the shallow water seems to be irony meaning if she ever gets to deep choke her, metaphorically speaking meaning bring her back to her hippy self

that line is like the RHCP song if you see me getting mighty, if you see me getting high knock me down I'm not bigger than life.

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thinkdiscuss
07-25-2007

Rated 0 
This song is fairly simple and straightforward. She essentially knows herself, so much so that she doesn't need to prove or analyze her existence. Philosophy and religion try too hard to make sense of people that instead, just *are*. A message of "just be." Don't get tangled up in extraneous and exaggerated thought and lose yourself in it.

"Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep" conveys this notion perfectly.

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pengcognito
01-04-2008

Rated 0 
Maybe she means "choke" as in throttle an engine. That is, stop her or slow her down if she seems to be getting too deep.

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feedbackloop
04-11-2008

Rated 0 
hmm, overthinking the song maybe goes against the spirit of it? :)
(Not to say you have to not interpret 'cause of that -- you don't have to accept it :).)

These things she talks about -- the cereal, dog, rocks, fog -- are all direct day-to-day experiences. Contrast that with reading philosophical/religious texts.

I'm caught up on "choke me in the shallow water...", because she seems dissatisfied with herself there -- it doesn't fit w/ the rest of the song...

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iamtheshit
08-05-2008

Rated 0 
I agree with thinkdiscuss.

I had the lyrics "Shove me in the shallow water, before I get too deep" in my head for a while today.

I am always over analyzing things and worrying about bullshit. I try to figure out things I can't and will never understand. And somehow, I think it defines me. I sometimes make the mistake of thinking I understand myself better if I try to sort everything out, analyze everything. Yet, it isn't much of an absolution to me. When I am simple, and just act as myself, I am who I am. No over thinking, just relaxing and going with the flow. I know myself. That is who I am. No need to over analyze, because to me personally, it leads me nowhere. Just into mass confusion.

I think this song probably means different things to different people, and probably was written with a slightly different message. But I think generally it has to do with just keeping things simple.

I love the line about the water, because I constantly think it. I tell myself. Relax. Be more shallow! Haha. Stop caring about such deep meaingful ideas, stop caring about why something is and why something isn't. Stop being neurotic. Stop thinking so much.

Btw I'm pretty sure it's shove. If not than I figure it still means the same thing basically.

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fuzzyspud
10-08-2008

Rated 0 
I always thought it was "Shove me in the shallow water, before I get too deep" which I figured was a metaphor for keeping life simple. If you notice that I am getting too deep into life and all it's hardships and craziness, pull me out of it before I become one of those people who are so self-involved. That's what it always meant to me, and I'll stand by that notion since it makes sense to me.

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DCMF
10-14-2008

Rated 0 
I always thought, and I have seen these guys live back in the early 90's that she was saying 'Chuck me in the shallow water, before I get too deep', meaning get me back to simplicity. Don't think she says CHOKE..

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GrungyBeatle
11-16-2008

Rated 0 
"choke me in the shallow water"

usually baptism in Christianity takes place in shallow water, except from Catholics who sprinkle holy water onto their converts or raised children in the church children. baptism symbolizes rebirth or you know a religious experience of devotion of some sort. Hindu's bathe in an annual festival in their gangre river. it also symbolizes purity. i think where she's getting at is that she doesn't want to "get deep" or all philosophical about the nature of life, but rather live life in the moment and experience it, even if what she is experiencing is mundane or stuff from everyday life. her religion is like a smile on a dog..

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TheMonolith
03-01-2009

Rated 0 
It always sounded like 'shove' to me, but I can imagine 'choke' as well.

I have always heard "Religion is a LIE in a fog" - She also says religion is a smile on a dog, and that sounds more like a lie than a light, but maybe my personal biases are at work on my ears. (Smiles on dogs are considered to be illusions - that is, the dog is not really smiling.)

I really believe the song is about keeping things simple. Some people want to analyze everything - even to the point that they question what they themselves are. Philosphy is a "walk on slippery rocks" for just this reason - if you let yourself, you can fall in. Obviously she doesn't think much of philosophy, or she wouldn't compare it to 'talk on a cereal box'.

She says "What I am is what I am." this means that to her, these eternal questions are not important - things really are sometimes as simple as they appear.

Also, one of the greatest ever guitar solos is in this song.

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JacobCalen123
04-13-2009

Rated 0 
This song is like two other songs I've listened to, and those are Brother by Alice in Chains and Jeremy by Pearl Jam.

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dfenton
04-16-2009

Rated 0 
I had arguements about the choke part, I can hear thats what she says. Very happy about that.

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Scifiboy2002
05-24-2009

Rated 0 
I think it is about people who get to techinical when trying to explain what life is. The singer explains that she's not aware of too many things, but she knows what she knows. She is not educated and has no degree, but she has experinece life and has an understanding about life. The science books and teachers cannot fully explain life. She is educated in spiritual things although no one needs to explain a formula to her.

"Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box. Religion is the smile on a dog". Philosophy is not what you read in a book, or taught in a college; it is something a person feels in the heart and soul. Even if it is found on a cereral box, an enlightened person can unlock the secrets of the universe. Religion is also something that cannot properly be taught in a book or class. It is all around us in nature. A smile on a dog.

The actual line is "chuck me the shallow water" not choke. Chuck means to toss. She wants to be tossed into the shallow water before she gets too deep. She does not want to be so overwhelmed by the questions of life, she just wants to enjoy the simple things. "Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks. Religion is a light in the fog". These have the same meaning as the cereral box and smile on the dog lines. We can get so caught up in the questions and meaning of life, we forget to take in the simple things in life. We forget to simply enjoy life.






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me103
08-21-2009

Rated 0 
the opposite or reverse of dog is GOD, and of a smile a frown, so religion is a frown on GOD !!! pharasee !!!

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PsychoDoughBoy
11-14-2009

Rated 0 
I like Me103's interpretation on the "Smile on a dog" Lyrics, very interesting, and more or less my opinion on what God thinks of so-called "organized religion, also, I do think the lyrics say "shove me into shallow water", that just seems to fit better with the whole theme of the song, which seems to me to be simple, Enjoy life while you can, don't waste time over analyzing everything

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