I'm Down (book)

I'm Down is a memoir by the American author Mishna Wolff, originally published by St. Martin's Press in 2009. In the book she relates her experience of being white while growing up in a predominantly African-American neighborhood and having a different financial situation and culture than the other white children than the ones at her upper class, private school filled with mostly white kids. She fights for acceptance in her neighborhood as she is perceived as "too white" while she struggles with acceptance (and accepting others) in her prestigious school. Mishna has trouble dealing with bullying from her peers, meeting the expectations her father sets for her (no matter how unusual they seem), the pressure she puts on herself, and learning who she is while society is pushing and pulling her into what they want her to be. She competes with the children in her neighborhood to be the funniest, the meanest, and the toughest while she strives to be rich, successful, and seemingly carefree like her school friends. When she returns home to her father and his many girlfriends and potential wives, she suppresses her school side to impress her father, while at her mom's house and at school she suppresses her neighborhood life to appeal to her mother. The theme of the book is the conflict she faces as she discovers two very different cultures and how they clash in her own life while she is stressed to discover herself as well. She spends the book (her life) trying to figure out which culture, which household, which side of the family she belonged to.

I'm Down

"I'm Down" is a song by the Beatles written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and first released as the B-side to the single "Help!" in 1965.

Composition

According to critic Richie Unterberger of Allmusic, "I'm Down" is "one of the most frantic rockers in the entire Beatles' catalog." McCartney told writer Barry Miles that the song and his vocal style on it were influenced by Little Richard, "I used to sing his stuff but there came a point when I wanted one of my own, so I wrote 'I'm Down.'"

Recording

The Beatles recorded "I'm Down" on 14 June 1965 in the same session as "Yesterday" and "I've Just Seen a Face".

The Beatles recorded the backing track in seven takes. The first of these takes can be heard on Anthology 2, with a quiet organ track and no backing vocals. At the beginning of the Anthology version, McCartney says, "Let's hope this one turns out pretty darn good" in a faux American accent. During the session, particularly between takes one and two, McCartney can be heard repeating the phrase "Plastic soul, man, plastic soul". He later revealed that the phrase, which the Beatles later adapted for the title of their album Rubber Soul, was used by black musicians to describe Mick Jagger.