"Who I Am" is an unused song from Shadow the Hedgehog. It is presumed that it would've been used for the fight against Devil Doom due to its lyrics, as well as the fact that the game's main theme "I Am... All of Me" is used for said fight instead of a unique song. The song would later be re-recorded and released on Magna-Fi's second studio album VerseChorusKillMe as well as a single.^{[citation needed]}

Lyrics[]

Connection to character[]

• You never really understood me - It could infer to any or all of the following:
  • Black Doom using Shadow to do his dirty work, while caring nothing for him.
  • G.U.N originally tried to destroy Shadow seeing him as a threat.
  • Sonic and his friends keep asking Shadow to help them when he has problems of his own to deal with.
  • Eggman only initially seeing Shadow as his grandfather's experiment, not as a person.
• Like a dog that's beaten over and over - Shadow enduring the physical and mental abuse of the Black Arms and G.U.N, as well as the many other trials, tribulations and tragedies that he had to deal with through his life.
• One day I'm gonna take you down - Shadow fully intends to deal out justice for Maria's death. It is also foreshadowing each of the endings Shadow does take down the people he holds responsible for ruining his life.
• This is who I am - Shadow making a choice about who he is after having everything he thought he was ripped away from him and having determination to close off the loose ends of who he was and leave his past behind him.
• Not a shadow of who I want to be - Shadow realizing who he is and not what he wants to be. Or Shadow saying that he has become who he wanted to be and no longer feels like a metaphorical shadow.
• Try to understand - Shadow trying to remember and make sense of his memories. Shadow also condescendingly commenting on how none of the other characters seem to understand how he feels.
• This is what you made me - Black Doom and Gerald Robotnik creating Shadow as the Ultimate Lifeform or G.U.N. killing the people who cared for him.
• And you're not ever going to change me - Shadow committing to the path he has chosen and deciding that he has found his new life and he is never going to let anyone take that away from him again.
• You have made me / You can't change me - Shadow being created by Black Doom and how he has now made his bed by creating Shadow and now must lie in it. He cannot change him; it is his choice now.
• You underestimate my sorrow, all the wreckage of my life - G.U.N. sees Shadow as a mindless monster, despite all they have put him through. Sonic and his friends want his help, not realizing how big his problems really are. Black Doom thinks that he can use Shadow as a weapon on the promise of vengeance, and that his feelings go no deeper than hate and rage. Eggman thinks of him as no more than an experiment.
• I tried so many times to tell you - Shadow's remorse right before the level Cosmic Fall, or how he has warned people that he wants justice for the tragedy of the ARK, and they never took him seriously.
• The silence deafened both of us (No more excuses) - Shadow is done trying to explain how he feels to everyone and is also done listening to them, their excuses and their pleas. Essentially, he decided if they are going to be deaf towards how he feels then he will be deaf towards how they feel.

Trivia[]

• The version of the song in VerseChorusKillMe is distinct from the one made for Shadow the Hedgehog, as CJ Szuter had left the band prior to the second recording. As such, the guitar solo at 2:01 differs significantly between the two.^[1]
• According to a Youtube comment by Mike Szuter on an upload of this song, after Jun Senoue contacted him about creating a song for the game, he wrote 'Who I Am'. The song was rejected by Jun as he wanted to write an original song with Mike instead, resulting in All Hail Shadow being the only song used in-game performed by Magna-Fi.^[1]

References[]