Neil Diamond

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"I am," I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair…

Neil Leslie Diamond (born 24 January 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, who, according to Billboard magazine, is the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever, ranking behind only Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

Quotes[edit]

Larry King interview (2003)[edit]

Interview on Larry King Live (29 September 2003)
  • I actually wanted to go to medical school. I actually wanted to be a laboratory biologist. I wanted to study. And I really wanted to find a cure for cancer. My grandmother had died of cancer. And I was always very good at the sciences. And I thought I would go and try and discover the cure for cancer.
  • A thing called "Cherry Cherry", was my first big national hit. It was a top five record. And international, as well. And you know, that's what broke the dam. … Boom, as soon as that record hit, I was out on the road. And I've been out on the road… since then. … I didn't realize it at first, but I did want to perform. I liked it. It was fun. You know, I went through all of the growth experiences that you go through in any field. But I did like it. And you know, I've been doing it since.
  • I'm a perfectionist. I like to get it right. I like to get it good. And you know, writing songs is not -- it's not the kind of thing that you can count on every day. You never know what's going to come or if it's going to come. So you -- you know, it's an uncertain kind of a thing.
  • I'm a writer who performs. And I mean, I'm basically a writer. I've been doing it since I was 16. … For me, the balance between the two, the writing -- a year, two years, whatever it takes to do an album, and then you've had enough of writing and thinking and being introspective and all of that kind of stuff, and you want to get out on the road and you want to, you know, get into the physicality of performing.

Song lyrics[edit]

"I am," I cried
"I am," said I
And I am lost, and I can't even say why …
We've traveled halfway 'round the world
To find ourselves again
September morn
  • Her eyes would make an angel smile.
    They'd call her Sunday.
    She'll take a man and drive him wild.
    Her name is Sunday,
    And one day I'm gonna make her mine.
    It's gonna be so fine.
    You wait and see,
    It's gonna be
    Just Sunday and me.
  • Girl, I don't want to fight,
    I'm a little bit wrong,
    And you're a little bit right.
    I said, girl, you know that it's true,
    It's a little bit me,
    And it's a little bit you too.
  • Kentucky woman
    She shines with her own kind of light.
    She'd look at you once
    And a day that's all wrong looks all right.
    And I love her, God knows, I love her.

    Kentucky woman,
    If she get to know you,
    She goin' to own you.
    Kentucky woman.

The Feel of Neil Diamond (1966)[edit]

  • Don't know that I will,
    But until I can find me
    The girl who'll stay
    And won't play games behind me,
    I'll be what I am:
    A solitary man, solitary man.
  • Says she loves me
    Yes, yes she does
    Gonna show me tonight, yeah

    She got the way to move me, Cherry

  • Ah, to be so exciting
    Won't need bright lights
    No, no we won't
    Gonna make our own lighting

    She got the way to move me, Cherry

    • Cherry, Cherry

Just for You (1967)[edit]

  • Don't you know
    Girl, you'll be a woman soon.
    Please, come take my hand.
    Girl, you'll be a woman soon.
    Soon you'll need a man.
  • Red, red wine
    Go to my head.
    Make me forget that I
    Still need her so.

    Red, red wine,
    It's up to you.
    All I can do, I've done.
    But memories won't go.
    No, memories won't go.

  • I thought love was only true in fairy tales
    Meant for someone else but not for me …
  • Then I saw her face
    Now I'm a believer
    Not a trace of doubt in my mind
    I'm in love
    I'm a believer
    I couldn't leave her if I tried.
    • I'm a Believer
  • Shilo when I was young,
    I used to call your name.
    When no one else would come,
    Shilo you always came and we'd play.
  • Used to slip though every girl's hand like water
    There never was one who could ever tie me down
    Straight ahead and steady as Gibraltar
    'Til you brought me tumblin' to the ground

    You got to me
    You brought me to may knees

    • You Got To Me

Velvet Gloves and Spit (1968)[edit]

  • I'm walkin'
    But I'm going nowhere at all.
    I'm 'bout to head any place in the world
    But the place that I am
  • Two bit manchild I was
    Born for nothin' mostly
    Good time with sometime women.
    Nothin' ain't ever hold me.
    You can't change me none.
    • Two-Bit Manchild

Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show (1969)[edit]

  • It's Love, Brother Love, say
    Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show.
    Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies.
    And ev'ryone goes, 'cause everyone knows
    Brother Love's show.
  • Hands, touchin' hands,
    Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you.
    Sweet Caroline.
    Good times never seemed so good.
    I've been inclined
    To believe they never would.
    But now I, look at the night
    And it don't seem so lonely.
    We fill it up with only two.

Touching You (1969)[edit]

  • Call the sun in the dead of the night
    And the sun gonna rise in the sky
    Touch a man who can't walk upright
    And that lame man, he gonna fly.
    And I fly, yeah, And I fly.

Tap Root Manuscript (1970)[edit]

  • Hitchin' on a twilight train
    Ain't nothing here that I care to take along.
    Maybe a song
    To sing when I want.
    No need to say please to no man
    For a happy tune.

Stones (1971)[edit]

  • "I am," I said
    To no one there
    An no one heard at all
    Not even the chair
    "I am," I cried
    "I am," said I
    And I am lost, and I can't even say why
    Leavin' me lonely still.

Moods (1972)[edit]

  • Song sung blue, everybody knows one.
    Song sung blue, every garden grows one.

    Me and you are subject to
    The blues now and then.
    But when you take the blues
    And make a song,
    You sing 'em out again.

  • You are the sun, I am the moon.
    You are the words, I am the tune.
    Play me.

Serenade (1974)[edit]

  • I've seen the light
    And I've seen the flame.
    And I've been this way before,
    And I'm sure to be this way again.

    For I've been refused,
    And I've been regained,
    And I've seen your eyes before,
    And I'm sure to see your eyes again.
    Once again.

    For I've been released,
    And I've been regained,
    And I've sung my song before,
    And I'm sure to sing my song again.
    Once again.

  • Longfellow Serenade,
    Such were the plans I'd made.
    For she was a lady
    And I was a dreamer,
    With only words to trade.

Beautiful Noise (1976)[edit]

  • And here's to the songs we used to sing;
    And here's to the times we used to know.
    It's hard to hold them in our arms again,
    But hard to let them go.
  • Dry your eyes and take your song out.
    It's a newborn afternoon.
    And if you can't recall the singer,
    You can still recall the tune.

    Dry your eyes and play it slowly,
    Like you're marching off to war.
    Sing it like you know he'd want it,
    Like we sang it once before.

I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight (1977)[edit]

  • Desiree,
    Oh, Desiree.
    There I was found
    By the sweet passion sound
    Of your loving song.
    Time was right, the night was long.

    Remember Desiree,
    Oh, Desiree.
    And though somehow I knew
    I could only have you 'til the morning light,
    The night was long, the time was right.

You Don't Bring Me Flowers (1978)[edit]

  • Money talks,
    But it don't sing and dance.
    And it don't walk.
    And long as I can have you
    Here with me, I'd much rather be
    Forever in blue jeans.

September Morn (1979)[edit]

  • We've traveled halfway 'round the world
    To find ourselves again
    September morn
    We danced until the night became a brand new day
    Two lovers playing scenes from some romantic play
    September morning still can make me feel that way

The Jazz Singer (1980)[edit]

  • Far
    We've been traveling far
    Without a home
    But not without a star.

    Free,
    Only want to be free.
    We huddle close;
    Hang on to a dream.

  • Home,
    Don't it seem so far away?
    Oh, we're traveling light today,
    In the eye of the storm.
    In the eye of the storm.

    Home,
    To a new and a shiny place.
    Make our bed and we'll say our grace.
    Freedom's light burning warm.
    Freedom's light burning warm.

    • America

On the Way to the Sky (1981)[edit]

  • Yesterday's songs
    Don't stay around long,
    Not much anymore.
    Yesterday's words
    Don't make themselves heard
    Like they did before.

Heartlight (1982)[edit]

  • Turn on your heartlight;
    Let it shine wherever you go.
    Let it make a happy glow
    For all the world to see.
    Turn on your heartlight
    In the middle of a young boy's dream.
    Don't wake me up too soon.
    Gonna take a ride across the moon,
    You and me.

External links[edit]

Wikipedia
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