I cry with this song no matter how many times I listen to it. It's a real cry out of the depths of emptiness... thank you for the realness of your reaction. I love Neil Diamond because he is so down to earth with his singing and his rich voice gets to me all the time.
Because Neil wrote some lightweight bubble gum songs, his more weighty material like this is criminally overlooked. This is one of the great American songs of all time in my opinion.
I think Neil Diamond is describing his own experiences and feelings, at least as he wrote the lyrics. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the home he left to fulfill his dream of stardom in L.A., and succeeding, like a fairytale frog becoming a king, yet feeling lonely in a place that had all good attributes, but wasn't home to him.
I use to live down valley from Aspen in a little mountain town. Neil Diamond had a home just outside the town. So he was literally between 2 shores in Colorado.
Neil auditioned for the role of Lenny Bruce in a movie about Bruce's life (Dustin Hoffman got the part in the movie "Lenny"). It was Neil's first attempt at acting and it was important to him. The first try didn't go well for Neil, and neither did the second. On his third try at the audition Lenny Bruce's mother and wife were there, and Neil really wanted to do a good job for them, but Neil didn't do that well this time either. When he returned to his dressing room he sat down in the chair with his guitar and started composing this song. It will go down as one of the greatest songs ever written, though less celebrated than his epic Sweet Caroline.
Neil was constantly touring and away from his family. He was the frog that became a king "he became famous". Neil stopped touring for a few years to spend more time with family. The industry told him his career was over that he would never be able to make a comeback. Then he returned with his "Hot August Nights album & the rest is history! I saw Neil in concert in 2001in Nashville, TN in a sold out arena. What a legend!
Neil is a legend. He wrote 3 songs that the Monkees made hits, aside from all of his own hits. He is one of my all time favorite artists as well. This is such a meaningful, beautiful, and powerful song. Thank you for sharing with your viewers. ~Be Blessed
Don't forget "Red, Red, Wine" Neil Diamond composed and sang the song with little success in 1967, but then almost 20 years later UB40 had a major hit with the song.
@@mikimike Not exactly the same thing. He wrote all 3 songs specifically for the Monkees, although he recorded "I'm A Believer" years later with slightly different lyrics. UB40 covered Red Red Wine, he didn't specifically write it for them. Others have also recorded his songs, such as Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon which was featured in Pulp Fiction but performed by Urge Overkill. Neil is a great songwriter and many have covered his songs, (some hits some not), but a lot of people don't know his connection to The Monkees.
@@aliwantizu Please, I was merely pointing out the fact that Neil Diamond wrote songs that other artists made famous. I simply was responding to and I quote "He wrote 3 songs that the Monkees made hits" I can remove comment if you like.Take Care ☮Peace☮
We all feel lost in the scheme of things some times. This is a cry to be heard, to be noticed, to be respected, to be connected. And even in Neil's extraordinary rise from an unknown singer-songwriter, pouring his heart out in hits for others to a man who is out front and doing his own material (and what an amazing body of work he has!), there is still a lack, a loneliness, that empty place inside that still desperately wants to be filled. Humans all have that. Some of them learn to not listen to the voice that is crying out inside, some of them do things to distract from it or numb it, but all humans have that. We are one of many of the planet's social species. We need our kind. Even the Lone Wolf doesn't really want to be lonely: he's just excluded for some reason (of his own making, usually).
👏👏👏👏👏👏Thank you so much for playing Neils song I am I Said it’s my favourite of his I just love this song it’s so beautiful he’s mostly famous for Sweet Caroline but he has many brilliant songs He’s wrote lots of songs for many artists and a number for my favourite group the Monkees he’s a brilliant singer and song writer I’ve loved him since the Sixties Love from Denise in Yorkshire England 🏴👏👏👏👏👏👍💕👋
In 1985, one Saturday afternoon, I needed to hear this song and so I played this track. And it was then that the reality of Neil’s poetry made me know and accept, that my life would not take the course I had really believed it would. Later, I determined that all I could do was to move on no matter what, work hard, adapt to what the new reality was and work within the new framework and ultimately, be my own strength, with faith that it would be ok, by the unbreakable Support of the Almighty. I still love this song, still love Neil Diamond, but I know that no matter what difficulties come in a marvelous, sometimes roller-coaster life, if the Universe says you will prevail, believe me, you will. I do matter to many people, but not in the way I had wanted. And that’s ok. In the end, we all do matter. Thank you Neil.
In the 70's I was a teenager growing up in Zambia. Our social life revolved around parties based on our collective (including the parents!) record collections. Despite loving female vocals I cam to really like Neil Diamond, his songs and his incredible voice. Getting mellow and wasted with a girl on my knee to Johnathon Livingston Seagull is a memory I will take to my grave.
I'm a New Yorker born and raised and living in Michigan. I've known Neil's Songs since I was 8yrs old. I now have grandchildren..and I will Always disappear into his "Hot August Night Concert" "I am I said" was done to Perfection that night! Highly recommend it.
. . . Everything ... was done to perfection that night , Mary . The greatest ' in concert ' album of them all . I made it to The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August ' 12 for the last two nights of his five night stand , celebrating the 40th anniversary of ' HOT AUGUST NIGHT ' . It was a 12 , 000 mile round trip from the far north of England ... Still can't quite believe some days that I've seen ' Neil Diamond ' , ' Live in concert at The Greek Theatre ' ... it was a 34 year wait . It is the most perfect concert venue .
One of my Favourite Neil Diamond songs! Top 5 Hit in 1971. I am a cancer survivor and all alone. My entire family has passed away. Very strange feeling being the only one left. Thank God for friends and my beautiful affectionate little cat. Really enjoy the songs you do and your reactions! Thanks for being you! ♥️🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦🇨🇦
40 plus years ago we went to see Neil Diamond in concert. I was 8 months pregnant. I took a cushion from our sofa to support my back. Little did I know my son was almost 9 pounds, I weighed 120 pounds. Neil Diamond was wonderful. Don’t understand but my son at 43 years old loves Neil Diamond to this day. Talent is talent.
We all sometimes want to be Alone, But No One wants to be Lonely- I was a kid when this song came out & loved it with Cracklin Rosie,& Holly Holy which were bigger hits around the same time- ( listen to both , u wont regret it)🎵🎵
"I never cared for the sound of being alone." Even when he became a big star he still had that feeling of loneliness...He was that frog who became a king... And when the 'Chair' was not listening to him [His Therapist]. The loneliness became an issue he had to finally face by himself. " I Am I Cried, I Am Said I. And I am lost and I can't even say why... Leaving me lonely still." This is why he is to me Americas greatest singer/songwriter. He writes about every day issues and problems people face daily. The man is a giant in the music industry...
This song really hurts. I am alone. I’m 51 years old. I spent my 20s “enjoying life”, but never taking it seriously. At 29, my father had a stroke and I moved home to help my mother care for him. They (we) moved 1,000 miles away to his home town to make him happy for his final years. Soon after his passing, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and my older brother game to help me care for her. She passed in 2014. Then, depression sunk in and my brother became addicted to alcohol. And at the beginning of February 2020, he passed from kidney failure. So now here I am in a 4 bedroom home with just myself and “no one there”. I have had those moments when I scream out to the world knowing I’m not heard. Not even the chair.
My religious dad interpreted this song to mean he was searching for God. No, I think he was searching or remembering the life he had before he was a 'star'.....a frog who became a king.
I agree. I always took it as Neil saying, one day I'm a New York songwriter before you know it I'm Neil Diamond. Even with industry people around him and adoring fans, he still feels the loneliness he did when he was unknown 🎶🎵
Well said, Hong Fang. My interpretation also. I understand he may also been estranged from family as he was trained as a Jewish cantor, and family did not approve of him being involved in the music business.
Everyone is searching for God. He "wrote eternity on each man's heart" .. We don't necessarily understand the hunger for what's missing is an existential longing for connection to our Maker
@@classicrocklady6288 Actually, he played that in the remake of the first talking picture from 1927 -- The Jazz Singer. But Neil's father was a dry goods salesman in Brooklyn. He is obviously feeling estranged in this song, though -- so it would be interesting to know where this deep well of sadness and longing came from for him -- maybe it's the whole "frog into a King" thing -- he's a "King" -- he's a STAR -- but deep down inside, he still feels like the frog -- like a little insecure Jewish boy in NYC in the 1940's and 1950's, who feels unattractive and unloved by his peers -- and now, he's got money and fame and power -- and so, why ARE people really hanging around and fawning all over me now? I'm still the same frog I ever was. I don't know -- just speculating. I'd love to hear his reflections on this very moving song -- it's probably somewhere here on CZcams.
@@Kairon111161 It's just sad to know that someone who brought so much joy to others would fell that aline. He suffers from Parkinson Disease mow...the malady that took my own Mother, so I feel a special additional affinity toward him. God bless him and give him peace.
One of my earliest musical memories is listening to the eight track tape of Hot August Night - I was perhaps 10 years old; and while there were many years where it wasn't "cool" to dig Neil Diamond, I always appreciated him as a singer songwriter.
More songs to react to by this musical genius….Beautiful Noise,Song Sung Blue,Forever in Blue Jeans,The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind and The Story of My Life! They will melt your heart!🔥❤️💎
Neil Diamond and in particular this song is solely responsible for my lifelong love of music. He is a prolific poet and song writer. Thanks for this reaction.
Neil Diamond live in concert was force to be reckoned with - a bottled up tornado of emotion that swept (in my instance) 4,000 people into an emotional catharsis. He filled the auditorium (the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago) with his personality, his presence, and his heartfelt soul. One of the great concerts of my life!
I have listened to Neil Diamond for his whole career, but always I am smitten by just how absolutely beautiful his voice is, and how perfect his every word is uttered. Thank you so much for this today, K.S.O..
One of my favorite Neil Diamond songs; I know all about homesickness. My favorite song of his is 'Done Too Soon,' a lesson in human nature and the cirular nature of life - plus with roaring brass section. Another good homesick song from him is 'Brooklyn Roads,' which is more directly biographical.
Neil is the master when writing about his life. Brooklyn Roads tells the story of his isolation when growing up. His crowning glory is his life story Hell Yeah
It warms my heart to know that you have discovered the music of Neil Diamond. He is one of great American artiest. I love your reactions to this iconic music. Enjoy! 🇺🇸🤗🎵🎶😍
Saw Neil live in Boston with my first boyfriend at 15 years old; It was my first real concert, Neal was awesome and I’ve loved him and followed his career ever since!! No, never married that boyfriend, but we were friends for a very long time!!!!💕✌️
Another from my young days - playing this on 8 track in my works van as I drove around London repairing airconditioning in hotels. Newly married, full of plans and hopes, time has gone by, great times and hard times, kids and dogs, loves and losses, a whole life lived, but - hey! - it's not over yet!
Many artists ( song writers, painters,authors, etc) deal with loneliness, depression. The capacity for feeling is sometimes greater than a person's ability to handle it. Like a balloon filled too much. I have known alone-ness almost my entire life. There is no quick explanation as to why. I have learned to be content where I am with what I DO have, etc. I do believe there is a difference between alone and loneliness. I can be by myself and not be lonely.
One of my favorite songs by ND Do you know what I mean? A song I put on replay. Another one is when he sings on Dame Shirley Bassey's show. He and her sing Play Me. Love both their vocals, she has an amazing voice. Btw, Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones are both from Wales and were both knighted by the queen. ND wrote Play Me. At one time, ND lived next door to Elvis Presley in Hollywood. Lonely, maybe I should be, but when you love to read, you have a friend.
One of my all time favorite Neil Diamond songs... right up there with "Solitary Man", "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon", and "A Modern Day Version of Love"
This song really speaks to me. I've lived in a lot of different places, and I know the feeling of living in a place that's far from home, where you're lonely and alone, but then you go back home and you don't really fit in there any more either, and you're just as lonely and alone there.
This absolutely hits home for me, because I can relate to feeling lost and not knowing why. Feeling lonely even in the presence of others is a place I've been as well. It makes me think of Tracy Chapman Fast Car and how she talks about how she felt like she belonged. I cant tell you the last time I felt like I belonged anywhere. I'm comfortable in my own skin today, but I not like I belong anywhere except at peace in nature. In my home or alone outside with all the nature God created are the only places I feel fully comfortable anymore.
My mom was the biggest Neil fan, I lost this year right after Thanksgiving from Covid. Thank you so very much for this reaction as I cry my eyes out missing her with every breath. I have listened to everything that man has ever recorded so this reaction hit me closer than I thought it would. Please keep the great music reactions coming. P.S. I've been alone all my life. No matter where I go or who I'm with I have always felt alone, disconnected, and isolated. The only way I have ever been able to truly express my thoughts and feeling has been through the music I listen to. There are times when the only way I can make myself feel, is to listen to music that speaks the language of my soul. I know that might sound strange but hey you asked for honesty. Thanks for giving me a place to be honest and step out from behind the curtain. Love and Light to you and all you hold dear. And yes I love your channel ;)
Watching this again this is still the most beautiful song I’ve heard in my 17 yrs on this planet apart from the end music from Toy story 4 that might be the last time we ever get to see woody so sad
I recommend a great interview he did on Irish television before he retired , the late late show , the audience aged around 30 y or less all started singing his songs , he got really touched or emotional.
Out of all the songs I’ve heard this hits me the hardest. Born and raised in Hawaii but I’m in California. California’s fine but it ain’t home. Hawaii’s home but it ain’t mine no more. I’ve been away from home too long but if I go back things have changed drastically and most of my friends have died. I have family there but they’ve got their own families and lives. I’d feel like I would be intruding.
I feel lonely for almost the same reason as Neil. I am from a small town in the north country, joined the Navy and served 24 years ending up hundreds of miles from my home town. While I have friends from my home, they aren't close like they were in my youth. Where I live now, I used to have a lot of friends, most Shipmates, but they all move back to their home towns when they separated. I have people say, just get out and make friends. Just sell your house and move back home. Just find a woman and get married. Overly simplistic solutions because I am significantly disabled makes all of those almost impossible, especially with no one to go through it with me. "Retired Sailor looking for someone who likes long road trips to nowhere, and likes pushing a wheelchair." This song came out when I was five, and I didn't understand the meaning until a lot later in life. It wasn't long after being five, that I learned through experience what I understand now is why I am comfortable being alone.
Descartes, the Dutch Philosopher is known in popular culture for the phrase "I think, therefore I am." That statement of self, of being, carries a lot of weight to us humans. We cry out into the void that we exist, and shouldn't that have some value in and of itself? Neil being brought up Jewish and regularly illustrating that background in his lyrics may also have been referring to the name God gave himself, usually written as "I AM", which just so happened to be the response Jesus gave regarding his divinity when questioned as the bible readers here will know.
"I never cared for the sound of being alone" I get it, Neil. Locations and accomplishments and material possessions can't fill the emptiness inside. I used to like my "alone time" whenever I could get it, but once I became handicapped, that "alone time" slowly morped into loneliness. Friends and acquaintances gradually dropped away. There was a time when I could be alone without being lonely. That time has long since passed.
@@SincerelyK.S.O. Thank you, K., for your response. I never gave a lot of thought to whether I'm a strong person or not, but I know I come from a line of strong people. I guess perseverance is just ingrained in me.
Loneliness is a big challenge for people, because we ARE like little isolated islands. The answer I found is not to be with people or to be distracted, but to sit quietly and focus on feeling safe, feeling part of all that is. Once I started doing that, I stopped feeling lonely at all. I spend almost all my time alone, and I have for years, and I'm happy all the time. I learned that feeling unalone, feeling connected, is something I can feel whenever I want. It doesn't matter what is going on in the world. I'm sad when a pet, friend, or family member dies, but I don't feel alone.
I do get lonely. But I am depressed. I'm going back in time with you reactors because it was a great place to be. Music was really good and so we're most people. My husband passed away as did my mom and dad. Too young. But I'm really ok. Just traveling back to a place I will always call home. The sixties and the seventies. You're a good soul KSO.
Yep lonely, over here. Just have kinda always felt that way, like I'm the outsider, alone in a crowd, even if I can fit in I don't really belong, & never really found a home or a place in life. Songs like this always cut very deeply for me. Thanks for letting me share 💟
At a similar time and place, Neil Diamond would have been a close contemporary of the greatest poets like Byron or Shelley or even Wordsworth. His thoughts and his phraseology are very much akin to what and how they wrote in the late 18th/early 19th Centuries. And what a voice.
You can be surrounded by people and even ones who care...even married with grandchildren and still find yourself very alone. People have free will. We all make choices. It's ok to reflect on different outcomes and it's ok to not be thrilled about being single too. Obviously it's mostly about being physically alone and feeling separate and invisible. Try smiling and making eye contact ppl, give a compliment or or if someone needs help, be there. It's going to be ok if we remember love. Kindness. Compassion.
My favorite Diamond song. It is too short that when I hear it I replay it 2-4 times. I find it the same when I hear The Cowboy Rides Away- Mr. George Strait.
My Humanities 3 teacher played this song for us as part of her unit on Existentialism. She was my favorite teacher...demanding excellence from us, but making the class so interesting that we WANTED to give our very beat. Sadly, COVID took her a few weeks ago at age 80. I like to think she's sending me reactions to this song to tell me she's okay.
I like that song especially when he sings it with Dame Shirley Bassey on her show. If you haven't, check it out. Let me know what you think, if you do. Please
This song speaks to me as grew up. The first time that I really drew meaning from it was a year after graduation from high school. Everything was on me to succeed and it was the first time that I didn’t have people caring what I did. Now, I choose to be alone. Normally, I don’t feel loneliness because I have been able to experience life on my own term. But with the pandemic, it has kept me from doing and seeing what I want to. I think that is the longing now. I know we won’t get back to that world before the virus and it is hard to live in this new reality.
I am way less lonely now that you inquired about my loneliness ..this lockdown is unprecedented in history .. more than a few people are feeling was we are feeling and Neil Diamond is a master at expressing what he is feeling .. a good movie to watch is Jazz Singer .. it's basically about his life
I cry with this song no matter how many times I listen to it. It's a real cry out of the depths of emptiness... thank you for the realness of your reaction. I love Neil Diamond because he is so down to earth with his singing and his rich voice gets to me all the time.
My favorite Neil Diamond song.
Neil diamond, your gifts are our blessings.
Because Neil wrote some lightweight bubble gum songs, his more weighty material like this is criminally overlooked. This is one of the great American songs of all time in my opinion.
"There is no greater isolation for a man to experience than to be lonely in a crowd." I prefer to be full on alone.
I think Neil Diamond is describing his own experiences and feelings, at least as he wrote the lyrics.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the home he left to fulfill his dream of stardom in L.A., and succeeding, like a fairytale frog becoming a king, yet feeling lonely in a place that had all good attributes, but wasn't home to him.
I think it's also a reference to the Grimm's Fairly Tale "The Frog Prince"
I use to live down valley from Aspen in a little mountain town. Neil Diamond had a home just outside the town. So he was literally between 2 shores in Colorado.
Neil auditioned for the role of Lenny Bruce in a movie about Bruce's life (Dustin Hoffman got the part in the movie "Lenny"). It was Neil's first attempt at acting and it was important to him. The first try didn't go well for Neil, and neither did the second. On his third try at the audition Lenny Bruce's mother and wife were there, and Neil really wanted to do a good job for them, but Neil didn't do that well this time either. When he returned to his dressing room he sat down in the chair with his guitar and started composing this song. It will go down as one of the greatest songs ever written, though less celebrated than his epic Sweet Caroline.
Neil was constantly touring and away from his family. He was the frog that became a king "he became famous". Neil stopped touring for a few years to spend more time with family. The industry told him his career was over that he would never be able to make a comeback. Then he returned with his "Hot August Nights album & the rest is history! I saw Neil in concert in 2001in Nashville, TN in a sold out arena. What a legend!
I used to have Hot August Night. Nearly wore it out (vinyl)
what a sensitive soul Neil Diamond was. this song captures how the most internal emotions are so large of feeling
Is. He's still alive and kicking!
LOL he’s not dead.
Neil is a legend. He wrote 3 songs that the Monkees made hits, aside from all of his own hits. He is one of my all time favorite artists as well. This is such a meaningful, beautiful, and powerful song. Thank you for sharing with your viewers. ~Be Blessed
Don't forget "Red, Red, Wine" Neil Diamond composed and sang the song with little success in 1967, but then almost 20 years later UB40 had a major hit with the song.
@@mikimike Not exactly the same thing. He wrote all 3 songs specifically for the Monkees, although he recorded "I'm A Believer" years later with slightly different lyrics. UB40 covered Red Red Wine, he didn't specifically write it for them. Others have also recorded his songs, such as Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon which was featured in Pulp Fiction but performed by Urge Overkill. Neil is a great songwriter and many have covered his songs, (some hits some not), but a lot of people don't know his connection to The Monkees.
@@aliwantizu Please, I was merely pointing out the fact that Neil Diamond wrote songs that other artists made famous. I simply was responding to and I quote "He wrote 3 songs that the Monkees made hits" I can remove comment if you like.Take Care ☮Peace☮
American legend
Neil Diamond is unique, awesome, that voice!!
Absolutely love Neil Diamond .Love on the Rocks .Cracklin Rosie ,Sweet Caroline and my fav is Forever in blue jeans 👖 💙
Forever in blue jeans is my karaoke song
We all feel lost in the scheme of things some times. This is a cry to be heard, to be noticed, to be respected, to be connected. And even in Neil's extraordinary rise from an unknown singer-songwriter, pouring his heart out in hits for others to a man who is out front and doing his own material (and what an amazing body of work he has!), there is still a lack, a loneliness, that empty place inside that still desperately wants to be filled.
Humans all have that. Some of them learn to not listen to the voice that is crying out inside, some of them do things to distract from it or numb it, but all humans have that. We are one of many of the planet's social species. We need our kind. Even the Lone Wolf doesn't really want to be lonely: he's just excluded for some reason (of his own making, usually).
Holly Holy by Neil Diamond. A song that is beyond amazing.
👏👏👏👏👏👏Thank you so much for playing Neils song I am I Said it’s my favourite of his I just love this song it’s so beautiful he’s mostly famous for Sweet Caroline but he has many brilliant songs He’s wrote lots of songs for many artists and a number for my favourite group the Monkees he’s a brilliant singer and song writer I’ve loved him since the Sixties Love from Denise in Yorkshire England 🏴👏👏👏👏👏👍💕👋
In 1985, one Saturday afternoon, I needed to hear this song and so I played this track. And it was then that the reality of Neil’s poetry made me know and accept, that my life would not take the course I had really believed it would.
Later, I determined that all I could do was to move on no matter what, work hard, adapt to what the new reality was and work within the new framework and ultimately, be my own strength, with faith that it would be ok, by the unbreakable Support of the Almighty.
I still love this song, still love Neil Diamond, but I know that no matter what difficulties come in a marvelous, sometimes roller-coaster life, if the Universe says you will prevail, believe me, you will. I do matter to many people, but not in the way I had wanted. And that’s ok. In the end, we all do matter.
Thank you Neil.
Just love his voice. One of his best.
In the 70's I was a teenager growing up in Zambia. Our social life revolved around parties based on our collective (including the parents!) record collections. Despite loving female vocals I cam to really like Neil Diamond, his songs and his incredible voice. Getting mellow and wasted with a girl on my knee to Johnathon Livingston Seagull is a memory I will take to my grave.
I'm a New Yorker born and raised and living in Michigan. I've known Neil's Songs since I was 8yrs old. I now have grandchildren..and I will Always disappear into his "Hot August Night Concert" "I am I said" was done to Perfection that night! Highly recommend it.
. . . Everything ... was done to perfection
that night , Mary . The greatest ' in concert ' album of them all . I made it to The
Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August ' 12 for the last two nights of his five night
stand , celebrating the 40th anniversary
of ' HOT AUGUST NIGHT ' . It was a
12 , 000 mile round trip from the far
north of England ... Still can't quite believe some days that I've seen
' Neil Diamond ' , ' Live in concert
at The Greek Theatre ' ... it was a
34 year wait . It is the most perfect
concert venue .
One of my Favourite Neil Diamond songs! Top 5 Hit in 1971. I am a cancer survivor and all alone. My entire family has passed away. Very strange feeling being the only one left. Thank God for friends and my beautiful affectionate little cat. Really enjoy the songs you do and your reactions! Thanks for being you! ♥️🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦🇨🇦
Neil Diamond & Shirley Bassey - Play Me - "high quality".....you're gonna flip over this..
40 plus years ago we went to see Neil Diamond in concert. I was 8 months pregnant. I took a cushion from our sofa to support my back. Little did I know my son was almost 9 pounds, I weighed 120 pounds. Neil Diamond was wonderful. Don’t understand but my son at 43 years old loves Neil Diamond to this day. Talent is talent.
The song, Neil diamond --i am i say. I feel just like the person in that song.
We all sometimes want to be Alone, But No One wants to be Lonely- I was a kid when this song came out & loved it with Cracklin Rosie,& Holly Holy which were bigger hits around the same time- ( listen to both , u wont regret it)🎵🎵
Been to so many of his concerts…sold out over twenty thousand! Talented,yet humble!🔥❤️💎
Your Correct. This song is entirely about himself and the struggles he was going through at the time.
"I never cared for the sound of being alone." Even when he became a big star he still had that feeling of loneliness...He was that frog who became a king... And when the 'Chair' was not listening to him [His Therapist]. The loneliness became an issue he had to finally face by himself. " I Am I Cried, I Am Said I. And I am lost and I can't even say why... Leaving me lonely still."
This is why he is to me Americas greatest singer/songwriter. He writes about every day issues and problems people face daily. The man is a giant in the music industry...
This has for years been my favorite Neil Diamond song. Great heart in it!
A song that's enjoyed evertime it's heard. I believe you can feel the same way.
This song really hurts. I am alone. I’m 51 years old. I spent my 20s “enjoying life”, but never taking it seriously. At 29, my father had a stroke and I moved home to help my mother care for him. They (we) moved 1,000 miles away to his home town to make him happy for his final years. Soon after his passing, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and my older brother game to help me care for her. She passed in 2014. Then, depression sunk in and my brother became addicted to alcohol. And at the beginning of February 2020, he passed from kidney failure. So now here I am in a 4 bedroom home with just myself and “no one there”. I have had those moments when I scream out to the world knowing I’m not heard. Not even the chair.
My religious dad interpreted this song to mean he was searching for God. No, I think he was searching or remembering the life he had before he was a 'star'.....a frog who became a king.
I agree. I always took it as Neil saying, one day I'm a New York songwriter before you know it I'm Neil Diamond. Even with industry people around him and adoring fans, he still feels the loneliness he did when he was unknown 🎶🎵
Well said, Hong Fang. My interpretation also. I understand he may also been estranged from family as he was trained as a Jewish cantor, and family did not approve of him being involved in the music business.
Everyone is searching for God. He "wrote eternity on each man's heart" .. We don't necessarily understand the hunger for what's missing is an existential longing for connection to our Maker
@@classicrocklady6288 Actually, he played that in the remake of the first talking picture from 1927 -- The Jazz Singer. But Neil's father was a dry goods salesman in Brooklyn. He is obviously feeling estranged in this song, though -- so it would be interesting to know where this deep well of sadness and longing came from for him -- maybe it's the whole "frog into a King" thing -- he's a "King" -- he's a STAR -- but deep down inside, he still feels like the frog -- like a little insecure Jewish boy in NYC in the 1940's and 1950's, who feels unattractive and unloved by his peers -- and now, he's got money and fame and power -- and so, why ARE people really hanging around and fawning all over me now? I'm still the same frog I ever was. I don't know -- just speculating. I'd love to hear his reflections on this very moving song -- it's probably somewhere here on CZcams.
@@Kairon111161 It's just sad to know that someone who brought so much joy to others would fell that aline.
He suffers from Parkinson Disease mow...the malady that took my own Mother, so I feel a special additional affinity toward him.
God bless him and give him peace.
One of my earliest musical memories is listening to the eight track tape of Hot August Night - I was perhaps 10 years old; and while there were many years where it wasn't "cool" to dig Neil Diamond, I always appreciated him as a singer songwriter.
Welcome to the awesome rabbit hole that is Neil Diamond. Pick any song. Anything off of Hot August Nights. Live concert. Greatest hits.
I love the rabbit hole of Neil.
Beautifully introspective song, easily his most personal.
Neil diamond can drag the emotion out of me, Love on the rocks is a killer
This clip brought tears
More songs to react to by this musical genius….Beautiful Noise,Song Sung Blue,Forever in Blue Jeans,The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind and The Story of My Life! They will melt your heart!🔥❤️💎
Neil Diamond and in particular this song is solely responsible for my lifelong love of music. He is a prolific poet and song writer. Thanks for this reaction.
Neil Diamond live in concert was force to be reckoned with - a bottled up tornado of emotion that swept (in my instance) 4,000 people into an emotional catharsis. He filled the auditorium (the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago) with his personality, his presence, and his heartfelt soul. One of the great concerts of my life!
I have listened to Neil Diamond for his whole career, but always I am smitten by just how absolutely beautiful his voice is, and how perfect his every word is uttered. Thank you so much for this today, K.S.O..
Its wonderful. He's a big hit here in Britain, btw. Very much one our fav artists from across the pond
One of my favorite Neil Diamond songs; I know all about homesickness. My favorite song of his is 'Done Too Soon,' a lesson in human nature and the cirular nature of life - plus with roaring brass section. Another good homesick song from him is 'Brooklyn Roads,' which is more directly biographical.
One of my favorites by him. Very deep.
Neil is the master when writing about his life. Brooklyn Roads tells the story of his isolation when growing up. His crowning glory is his life story Hell Yeah
Can never go wrong with Neil Diamond
It warms my heart to know that you have discovered the music of Neil Diamond. He is one of great American artiest. I love your reactions to this iconic music. Enjoy! 🇺🇸🤗🎵🎶😍
One of the great songs. He is magnificent.
His voice is amazing
The man is amazing. This was my Mom's favorite singer. When I'm down or need a pick me up. I put on Neil.
beautiful man inside and out with talent to spare. Love him
Saw Neil live in Boston with my first boyfriend at 15 years old; It was my first real concert, Neal was awesome and I’ve loved him and followed his career ever since!! No, never married that boyfriend, but we were friends for a very long time!!!!💕✌️
Neil had a wonderful rich voice back then. Check out "Yes I Will".
Another from my young days - playing this on 8 track in my works van as I drove around London repairing airconditioning in hotels. Newly married, full of plans and hopes, time has gone by, great times and hard times, kids and dogs, loves and losses, a whole life lived, but - hey! - it's not over yet!
This and “Shiloh” are my absolute favourite Neil Diamond songs 🙌🙌🙌
One of my favorite Neil Diamond songs
My mom loves Neil Dimond, she's gone to at least 3 of his concerts. I grew up listening to him. This song takes me back to my childhood.
beautiful voice beautiful songs my kind of singer one with real talent
I absolutely love this song and I love Neil too. Listen to the lyrics. ❤️❤️❤️
Many artists ( song writers, painters,authors, etc) deal with loneliness, depression. The capacity for feeling is sometimes greater than a person's ability to handle it. Like a balloon filled too much. I have known alone-ness almost my entire life. There is no quick explanation as to why. I have learned to be content where I am with what I DO have, etc. I do believe there is a difference between alone and loneliness. I can be by myself and not be lonely.
I agree. As long as I can get into a good book, I'm content. It's being able to entertain yourself.
One of my favorite songs by ND Do you know what I mean? A song I put on replay. Another one is when he sings on Dame Shirley Bassey's show. He and her sing Play Me. Love both their vocals, she has an amazing voice. Btw, Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones are both from Wales and were both knighted by the queen. ND wrote Play Me. At one time, ND lived next door to Elvis Presley in Hollywood.
Lonely, maybe I should be, but when you love to read, you have a friend.
Neil Diamond is a American Hero.
One of my all time favorite Neil Diamond songs... right up there with "Solitary Man", "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon", and "A Modern Day Version of Love"
This song really speaks to me. I've lived in a lot of different places, and I know the feeling of living in a place that's far from home, where you're lonely and alone, but then you go back home and you don't really fit in there any more either, and you're just as lonely and alone there.
A true music legend. I get goose bumps and a lump in my chest every time I see and hear him sing
So beautiful what a voice and great lyrics 👌
This absolutely hits home for me, because I can relate to feeling lost and not knowing why. Feeling lonely even in the presence of others is a place I've been as well. It makes me think of Tracy Chapman Fast Car and how she talks about how she felt like she belonged. I cant tell you the last time I felt like I belonged anywhere. I'm comfortable in my own skin today, but I not like I belong anywhere except at peace in nature. In my home or alone outside with all the nature God created are the only places I feel fully comfortable anymore.
God, I love this mans voice . Always have always will.
My mom was the biggest Neil fan, I lost this year right after Thanksgiving from Covid. Thank you so very much for this reaction as I cry my eyes out missing her with every breath. I have listened to everything that man has ever recorded so this reaction hit me closer than I thought it would. Please keep the great music reactions coming. P.S. I've been alone all my life. No matter where I go or who I'm with I have always felt alone, disconnected, and isolated. The only way I have ever been able to truly express my thoughts and feeling has been through the music I listen to. There are times when the only way I can make myself feel, is to listen to music that speaks the language of my soul. I know that might sound strange but hey you asked for honesty. Thanks for giving me a place to be honest and step out from behind the curtain. Love and Light to you and all you hold dear. And yes I love your channel ;)
I love your loving reactions. You are truly a loving Soul. Thank you ❤🕊
Watching this again this is still the most beautiful song I’ve heard in my 17 yrs on this planet apart from the end music from Toy story 4 that might be the last time we ever get to see woody so sad
There was a guy in the 70s, called Andy Kim, who sang a great song called Rock Me Gently. He sounded a lot like Neil Diamond
Egads! Love that song....haven't heard in ages. Got to check CZcams for it!
I recommend a great interview he did on Irish television before he retired , the late late show , the audience aged around 30 y or less all started singing his songs , he got really touched or emotional.
Neil, is one of the best song writers of the last five decades.
I slow danced to this one many times, back in the day. Great Song!
Out of all the songs I’ve heard this hits me the hardest. Born and raised in Hawaii but I’m in California. California’s fine but it ain’t home. Hawaii’s home but it ain’t mine no more. I’ve been away from home too long but if I go back things have changed drastically and most of my friends have died. I have family there but they’ve got their own families and lives. I’d feel like I would be intruding.
I feel lonely for almost the same reason as Neil. I am from a small town in the north country, joined the Navy and served 24 years ending up hundreds of miles from my home town. While I have friends from my home, they aren't close like they were in my youth.
Where I live now, I used to have a lot of friends, most Shipmates, but they all move back to their home towns when they separated. I have people say, just get out and make friends. Just sell your house and move back home. Just find a woman and get married.
Overly simplistic solutions because I am significantly disabled makes all of those almost impossible, especially with no one to go through it with me. "Retired Sailor looking for someone who likes long road trips to nowhere, and likes pushing a wheelchair."
This song came out when I was five, and I didn't understand the meaning until a lot later in life. It wasn't long after being five, that I learned through experience what I understand now is why I am comfortable being alone.
Descartes, the Dutch Philosopher is known in popular culture for the phrase "I think, therefore I am." That statement of self, of being, carries a lot of weight to us humans. We cry out into the void that we exist, and shouldn't that have some value in and of itself?
Neil being brought up Jewish and regularly illustrating that background in his lyrics may also have been referring to the name God gave himself, usually written as "I AM", which just so happened to be the response Jesus gave regarding his divinity when questioned as the bible readers here will know.
It is interesting that the first time folks hear Neil Diamond they end up wipeing their eyes
His voice so SOOOOOO beautiful...
In my youth, my mother did listen and dance on the song 'Beautifull noise' from Neil Diamond.
"I never cared for the sound of being alone" I get it, Neil. Locations and accomplishments and material possessions can't fill the emptiness inside. I used to like my "alone time" whenever I could get it, but once I became handicapped, that "alone time" slowly morped into loneliness. Friends and acquaintances gradually dropped away. There was a time when I could be alone without being lonely. That time has long since passed.
You sound so strong. To find the strength to forgive and move on graciously, that’s amazing.
Kenny, I too am handicapped and understand what you are going through. I pray for you that you find some form of comfort very soon.
@@SincerelyK.S.O. Thank you, K., for your response. I never gave a lot of thought to whether I'm a strong person or not, but I know I come from a line of strong people. I guess perseverance is just ingrained in me.
@@redpammy Thank you, Pamela. It's amazing how I find little bits of comfort in so many places.
Being alone by choice is easy...when its forced upon you by circumstances its hard...there are many of us out there my lovely..x
If you aren't moved by this song, then you are unmovable. Such a beautiful song...
Loneliness is a big challenge for people, because we ARE like little isolated islands. The answer I found is not to be with people or to be distracted, but to sit quietly and focus on feeling safe, feeling part of all that is. Once I started doing that, I stopped feeling lonely at all. I spend almost all my time alone, and I have for years, and I'm happy all the time. I learned that feeling unalone, feeling connected, is something I can feel whenever I want. It doesn't matter what is going on in the world. I'm sad when a pet, friend, or family member dies, but I don't feel alone.
I do get lonely. But I am depressed. I'm going back in time with you reactors because it was a great place to be. Music was really good and so we're most people. My husband passed away as did my mom and dad. Too young. But I'm really ok. Just traveling back to a place I will always call home. The sixties and the seventies. You're a good soul KSO.
Yep lonely, over here. Just have kinda always felt that way, like I'm the outsider, alone in a crowd, even if I can fit in I don't really belong, & never really found a home or a place in life. Songs like this always cut very deeply for me. Thanks for letting me share 💟
Neil's orchestration was sublime. Love this song.
Gracias por todo Neil….❤❤❤
This is the most beautiful song I’ve heard, has this singer done any other songs ?
One of the all time best melodies ever written. He is a man caught between two worlds.
lovely interpretation of the song, we are all lonely sometimes- thank you for giving that a platform.x
The frog who became a king is a common fairy tale story.
At a similar time and place, Neil Diamond would have been a close contemporary of the greatest poets like Byron or Shelley or even Wordsworth. His thoughts and his phraseology are very much akin to what and how they wrote in the late 18th/early 19th Centuries. And what a voice.
Solitary Man is another wonderful song by Neil!
so glad you are doing more of Neil's songs :) he is one of my favorites :)
You can be surrounded by people and even ones who care...even married with grandchildren and still find yourself very alone. People have free will. We all make choices. It's ok to reflect on different outcomes and it's ok to not be thrilled about being single too. Obviously it's mostly about being physically alone and feeling separate and invisible. Try smiling and making eye contact ppl, give a compliment or or if someone needs help, be there. It's going to be ok if we remember love. Kindness. Compassion.
My favorite Diamond song. It is too short that when I hear it I replay it 2-4 times. I find it the same when I hear The Cowboy Rides Away- Mr. George Strait.
My Humanities 3 teacher played this song for us as part of her unit on Existentialism. She was my favorite teacher...demanding excellence from us, but making the class so interesting that we WANTED to give our very beat. Sadly, COVID took her a few weeks ago at age 80. I like to think she's sending me reactions to this song to tell me she's okay.
Neil Diamond/Play Me studio version
I like that song especially when he sings it with Dame Shirley Bassey on her show. If you haven't, check it out. Let me know what you think, if you do. Please
This song speaks to me as grew up. The first time that I really drew meaning from it was a year after graduation from high school. Everything was on me to succeed and it was the first time that I didn’t have people caring what I did. Now, I choose to be alone. Normally, I don’t feel loneliness because I have been able to experience life on my own term. But with the pandemic, it has kept me from doing and seeing what I want to. I think that is the longing now. I know we won’t get back to that world before the virus and it is hard to live in this new reality.
I am way less lonely now that you inquired about my loneliness ..this lockdown is unprecedented in history .. more than a few people are feeling was we are feeling and Neil Diamond is a master at expressing what he is feeling .. a good movie to watch is Jazz Singer .. it's basically about his life
Love Neil. Most of his songs are deep ☮️💜
I love this song. Another great song of his: Holly Holy.