“I Don’t Know My Name” by Grace VanderWaal

“I Don’t Know My Name” is a song in which singer and songwriter Grace VanderWaal explores the issue of self-identity. And despite it being composed in a manner where she is singing almost exclusively about herself, the lyrics are very social in their approach. That is basically to say that the singer’s attempts to discover herself are heavily influenced by her interactions with other people, specifically her peers.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Grace VanderWaal's I Don’t Know My Name at Lyrics.org.

But as for Grace herself, the period of her life which this song is centered on is marked by changes. For instance, she is experimenting with her looks. She has also recently changed the social circle which she belonged to. These transitions are apparently due to her feeling “lost… in an ocean of people”. Thus the inference is that the wide selection of identities she has to choose from, as displayed by others, contributes to her not being able to pin down her own unique persona. Owing to this, we can safely say the title of this track obviously does not signify VanderWaal literally not knowing her name. Rather the term “name” as used throughout the song could actually be synonymous with self-identity.

Ultimately the singer resolves this situation by rather realizing that the way she is assaying different looks and social groups is her identity. That is to say that she is the type of person who doesn’t “play by the rules of the game”, as in being unorthodox and unpredictable. But throughout it all, she is still definitively “trying to find her way” in life.

History of “I Don’t Know My Name”

This song was originally written by Grace VanderWaal.  She used it to audition for the popular reality-TV show “America’s Got Talent” on 7 June 2016. She sang the song while playing a ukulele.

She received a standing ovation for her performance. And one of the celebrity judges of the competition, comedian Howie Mandel, used a special protocol dubbed the “golden buzzer” where VanderWaal was able to skip the next level of the contest and advance directly to the quarterfinals.

Moreover hard-to-please celebrity judge Simon Cowell referred to her as “the next Taylor Swift” during this occasion.

In fact one of the record labels behind the release of “I Don’t Know My Name” is Syco Records, which is actually owned by Simon Cowell.

Eventually VanderWaal went on to win the 11th season of “America’s Got Talent”, sealing the victory by once again performing “I Don’t Know My Name” on the season finale, which aired on 14 September 2016. And a couple of days after winning the competition, Taylor Swift sent her a bouquet of flowers.

Release Date

“I Don’t Know My Name” was officially released on 18 November 2016 by Syco Records and Colombia Records. It served as the lead single from VanderWaal’s debut EP (Perfectly Imperfect).

Did Grace VanderWaal write “I Don’t Know My Name” all by herself?

The song was originally written by VanderWaal. But the track’s producer, Greg Wells, also contributed to its lyrical composition.

Chart Performance

“I Don’t Know My Name” reached position 37 on the Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart. And on the Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles list, it did better by reaching position 24. Furthermore, the song charted in Australia.

1 Response

  1. Jackie Tunberg, Lincoln, ne says:

    Her fans recognize her for who she is–the BOMB in popular singer-songwriter circles. I was enamored by her since day one for her uniqueness wonderful voice and perfect tones of her pure voice. She does not need auto tune and sounds her best in concertl A sweet and wonderful young woman who received a gift from God.

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