I'm a Man (Bo Diddley song)

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I'm A Man is a song written (credited to Ellas McDaniel) and released by Bo Diddley in March 1955 (Checker). Since Diddley had borrowed Muddy Waters' blues rhythm "I'm a Man", Waters turned around and performed a cover of the song a few months later in his song "Mannish Boy". This title was a play by Waters on Diddley's younger age as it related to the primary theme of the song.

Released in a period of American history entrenched in segregation and tense race relations, this song's primary theme was affirming the status of the African American. In later civil rights marches, activists would hold signs declaring "I AM a man," fighting against the idea that an African-American man should be treated differently than any other man.