I Got a Name (song)


"I Got a Name" is a 1973 single recorded by Jim Croce with lyrics by Norman Gimbel and music by Charles Fox. It was the first single from his album of the same title and also Croce's first posthumous single, released the day after his death in a plane crash on September 20. The song reached a peak of #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 after spending 17 weeks on the chart. It also hit #3 on the Cash Box Top 100.
"I Got a Name" was also the theme song for the 1973 movie The Last American Hero. It was also featured in the movies The Ice Storm, Invincible, Django Unchained, Logan and The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Background

Croce composed most of his own material, however he did not write "I Got A Name". In an interview with Billboard magazine, writer Norman Gimbel revealed the reason Croce chose to record the song, stating that "Jim liked it because his father had a dream for him but had died before his son's first success."

Content

The song features a narrator who is proud of who he is and where he is going in life, undeterred by the naysaying of others. He begins by declaring that like any plant or animal, he has a name of which he can be proud. The narrator acknowledges, however, that not all people take pride in who they are in such a way: for instance, he carries his name with him "like daddy did," but the narrator, choosing to handle life differently, is "living the dream that kept hid." The narrator, unlike his father, is able to have a proud connection with his name, and live out the dreams that his father was unable to accomplish in life.
In the second verse, the narrator goes on to note that like the wind, birds, or even crying babies, he has a song to sing. Much like he does with his name, he holds his song up as a proud part of his identity, and resolves to sing it no matter what. Even if singing "gets nowhere," by declaring his identity and worth to the world, the narrator can go to "nowhere" proudly.
In the final verse, the narrator declares that he will go forward in life "free," acknowledging that he will forever thus be a "fool." However, he happily chooses this path of foolish freedom, because moving through life this way can only help him achieve his "dream." This dream is clearly as much a part of the narrator's identity as his name or the song he sings, and he holds it up just as proudly to others. He then notes that while others may "change their minds" about him and his dream, their naysaying can never change his identity. Even so, the narrator is willing to "share" his dream with others, and announces that if anyone else is "going way"—i.e. they believe in his dream as well—then he will go forward in life along with them.
However, the culmination of the narrator's beliefs and pride in his identity is really in the chorus, as he declares that no matter what, he is joyfully "moving" and "rolling" himself "down the highway" of life. All in all, as he moves forward in life, carrying his name, his song, and his dream as part of him, his biggest goal is to simply not focus on the past, but look to the present and future instead. The narrator ends by sharing his hope that he can live each day to the fullest, "moving ahead so life won't pass by."

Reception

In 1973, Billboard wrote, "The song is bigger and more grandiose in lyric and melody content than Croce's usual funky material which makes interesting contrast." They also listed the song as a top single pick.

Live performances

Jim Croce performed the song live on an episode of the Midnight Special in 1973. There is at least one other known live video recorded performance of "I Got A Name," at Royce Hall, UCLA Campus, Los Angeles, California in August 1973. Croce performed the song live on the July 19th 1973 episode of NBC's The Helen Reddy Show.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
U.S. Cash Box78

Track listing

7" Single
  1. "I Got a Name" - 3:09
  2. "Alabama Rain" - 2:14

    Cover versions

The song was used at the start and end of The Last American Hero, a 1973 film starring Jeff Bridges.
The song was featured in a TV commercial for Western Airlines, in 1987, just before the carrier merged with Delta Air Lines; it had the tag line, "Western Airlines: We have a name to live up to."
In 1995, the song was used as the theme for the character of Zé Bolacha in the Brazilian telenovela A Próxima Vítima.
In the 2001 "Ready, Willing, and Disabled" episode of the cartoon Family Guy, Mort Goldman is seen singing along to a muzak version of the song in his pharmacy.
This song is featured in the movie Invincible with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role.
In August 2012, a Remax commercial featured Croce singing the song.
The song is featured in Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film Django Unchained.
It is also heard in the 2017 trailer for the film Logan, and in the film itself.
This song is featured in The Lego Ninjago Movie.
A.J. Croce, Jim's son, recorded the song for a 2018 Goodyear tire commercial featuring Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
It can also be heard in the second episode of the 2020 HBO series I Know This Much Is True.