Neil Diamond Top Ten: I Am....I Said (#10)

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Yesterday when I said I was doing songs with “diamonds” in the title I got a lot of mentions of Neil Diamond, so that prompted me to do a countdown in tribute to the great Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer/songwriter. Let’s get going with this tune. #10: I Am....I Said I have a lot of friends who like to make fun of this song, how Neil is talking to a chair (“No one heard at all, not even the chair”). But that overlooks the pain of loneliness and homesickness (“L.A.’s fine, but it ain’t home, New York’s home, but it ain’t mine no more”). Diamond said he wrote this for therapy, to combat the adjustment to life in L.A. There is quite a bit of desperation in this song, highlighted by “I’m not a man who likes to swear, but I never cared for the sound of being alone.” And for those who think the line about the chair is funny, how about that joke about “rents are low” about Los Angeles?? I Am...I Said Written by Neil Diamond (all of these were written or co-written by him) From Stones, 1971 The feeling is laid back: