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NEIL DIAMOND'S SIGNATURE SONG
Did you ever read about a frog
Who dreamed of bein' a king
And then became one
Well except for the names
And a few other changes
If you talk about me
The story's the same one
"'I Am... I Said' took four months to complete. I knew it had great potential and I was unwilling to accept anything but the raw truth in the lyric. It was a daily battle to put this song and those sentiments on paper, but when it was done, it turned out the be one of the most satisfying songs I had ever written. It was nominated for a Grammy and still gives me chills when I perform it." - ND
THE CHAIR: The chair is a reference to the psychiatrist's chair. Diamond battled with this song for 4 months following a near-breakdown after divorce and a move from NY to LA. His failure to land the part of Lenny Bruce in the movie Lenny left him close to breaking point and Diamond was depressed. Diamond eventually took a 4 year sabbatical from performing after his landmark appearance at the Greek Theater in LA in 1972. 'I Am ... I Said' has a far deeper meaning than most casual listeners imagine. The song is a masterpiece by a great songwriter. By his own admission, Diamond spent months in psychotherapy and this song explains wonderfully his thoughts and feelings at the time. In Gestalt therapy, a patient projects his thoughts into an empty chair while a counsellor looks on making notes. This may well explain the meaning of the word chair. It is too easy to dismiss the 'chair' as a trite attempt to make a rhyme, but Diamond is nothing but meticulous in his lyric writing and he has said that 'I Am... I Said' underwent countless rewrites until it said exactly what he wanted it to say. Diamond no doubt felt to alone and so alienated that he must have felt that no-one was listening to his tortured cries - not even the (psychoanalyst's) chair.
"'I Am ... I Said', this is the most difficult song Neil has ever written because of its deeply personal emotions. It was a daily battle for Neil to write this song and his sentiments on paper. It is a very complicated song, which tells of feelings lost, full of questions, doubts and insecurities. The lyrics reflect a need to return home, to return to one's roots and original security of life, while realizing that one can never go back because time changes things. Neil considers this song as the best song he has ever written. And myriads of devotees around the world would agree with his opinion. It took Neil 4 months to complete this song although he spent many hours each day, seven days a week on it, writing essays about his feelings to finally form each line of lyrics describing loneliness. Song writing was a compulsion for young Neil. As with any creative endeavour, songwriting is a personal reflection of the writer. Neil Diamond was alone because he wanted to be be alone, he was afraid of having people come too close to him as he didn't have much self-confidence at the time when he wrote 'I Am ... I Said'". - Karin Thieme
I AM... I SAID
NEIL DIAMOND
L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time
And the feeling is "lay back"
Palm trees grow and rents are low
But you know I keep thinkin' about
Making my way back
Well I'm New York City born and raised
Nowadays I'm lost between two shores
L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home
New York's home,
But it ain't mine no more
I am ... I said
To no one there
And 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
Did you ever read about a frog
Who dreamed of bein' a king
And then became one
Well except for the names
And a few other changes
If you talk about me
The story's the same one
But I got an emptiness deep inside
And I've tried
But it won't let me go
And I'm not a man who likes to swear
But I never cared
For the sound of being alone
I am ... I said
To no one there
And 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
Leaving me lonely still ...
Neil Diamond 2008
Album: Hot August Night NYC - Madison Square Garden (Live DVD/CD)