Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York in January of 1941 and became one of the most successful singer/songwriters in American music history. Only Barbra Streisand and Elton John have sold more records as adult contemporary artists in Billboard Chart history, and Neil Diamond has sold over 48 million records in the United States alone. I discovered Neil Diamond’s music as a teenager in the early 1970s, and still have the luxury today of hearing his many hits whenever I turn on the oldies stations on the radio. Trying to narrow down a list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs was a difficult but enjoyable challenge. Those familiar with such Neil Diamond works as “Sweet Caroline” and “Cherry, Cherry” may be surprised not to find them here, but that does not mean I do not enjoy them; I just like these more!
“Solitary Man” was the first song by Neil Diamond to make the Billboard Charts, topping out at a modest peak of number 55 in May of 1966. “Solitary Man” tells the story of a man who has not been able to find a woman that will commit solely to him, and until he does, he will “be what I am, a solitary man”. I have positioned “Solitary Man” at number ten on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs. Diamond himself has said in a recent interview that it took him a long time to realize that “Solitary Man” was basically about himself and his niche in the music scene.
I Am, I Said” made it to number 4 in 1971, and relates the tale of how a man finds success in Los Angeles but misses his home, New York City. “L. A.’s fine but it ain’t home, New York’s home but it ain’t mine no more”. At number nine on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs, “I Am, I Said” examines what happens when one achieves one’s dreams, and the price that sometimes must be paid.
The Monkees made “I’m A Believer” into a mega-hit in 1966, but it was Neil Diamond who wrote it, but not specifically for them. He was working as a songwriter, churning out songs in the early Sixties, and the Monkees released the song, which he did not have the exclusive rights to, before Neil Diamond did. Still, Neil Diamond recorded “I’m A Believer” himself and it got to number 51 on the charts in June of 1971, after being voted the Pop Music Song of the Year in 1966. I rank “I’m A Believer” at number eight on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs.
My number seven title on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs is his 1974 release, “Longfellow’s Serenade”. With a catchy tune, “Longfellow’s Serenade” is an attempt by a man to shower his lover with adulation, as “in my way I loved her as none before, loved her with words and more”. The song was released in Neil Diamond’s “Serenade” album, and climbed to number 5 at one point.
“Brooklyn Roads” has always been one of my favorite Neil Diamond hits, and it is situated on my list of his top ten songs at number six. The song speaks about an underachieving child and his memories of growing up in Brooklyn, where Neil Diamond himself grew up in the Forties and Fifties. Being a bit of an underachiever myself, the song always touched me. Brooklyn Roads” was by no means a big hit for Neil Diamond, only getting as far as number 58 on the Billboard Charts after its May of 1968 release, but I cannot listen to the song without going back to my own youth, even today.
A man can only forget his lost love when he drinks “Red, Red Wine”, another Neil Diamond 1968 release that many young men have listened to as they tried to get over a break-up. The song had limited success, inching up to only 62 on the charts, but I find the lyrics and music to my taste and place it at number five on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs.
Another drinking song by Neil Diamond was his 1970 number one hit, “Cracklin’ Rosie”. The song is about how Rosie takes away all of a man’s troubles; “How I love my Rosie child, you got the way to make me happy”. It took me a long time to figure out that Neil Diamond was singing about a bottle of wine; “Cracklin Rose you’re a store bought woman, but you make me feel like a guitar hummin. “Cracklin’ Rosie” was Diamond’s first number one hit, and I rank it number four on my list of his top ten songs.
One of Neil Diamond’s least known efforts is number three on my list of his top ten songs. “You Got To Me” was out in 1967, and at one time was number 18 on the charts, but it is largely forgotten, except by me. Every time I hear the melody and the words, I think of my lovely wife, and how “you got to me, brought me to my knees”. She did indeed.
It was a very hard for me to rank these next two, but I was able to finally. “Shilo”, a 1970 tune that ascended to number 24, is the story of a child who finds himself very abandoned in the world; “when children play, seems like you end up alone”. He turns to an imaginary friend, Shilo, who is always there, even after his first love breaks his heart. “Shilo” is number two on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs, but if I had written this article before meeting my wife, it would be at the top.
But I did meet my wife, and no song ever written touches me like the 1970 “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”. I danced to this at my wedding with Dianne, and I can not hear this song ever without tears coming to my eyes, as I think of her and how lucky I am to have her as my wife. The song was part of the “Sweet Caroline” album but never released as a single. But with lyrics such as “close my eyes and hear the flowers growing, as you lay sleeping in my arms” I have “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” at number one on my list of Neil Diamond’s top ten songs.
