In 1996, I attended a Neil Diamond concert at the Fleet Center in Boston. I was going through my teenage hippie phase at the time, so perhaps I thought Neil was cool because my favorite jam band, Phish, did an awesome cover of “Cracklin’ Rosie.” Whatever my inspiration, I knew attending this particular show was somewhat ironic. I was making a statement and bucking convention.
I don’t remember what Neil wore, but I'm pretty sure it wasn’t sequins. I sort of remember older fans getting miffed when we stood up to dance. What I recall most clearly is how happy Neil Diamond made me. He sang songs I didn’t even realize I knew. Yet I found myself mouthing the words: “You are the sun, I am the moon. You are the words, I am the tune — play me.”
Could it be that I was indoctrinated by a Neil Diamond subculture without knowing it? It certainly didn’t come from my parents, who claim every Neil song sounds the same (how wrong they are!). I didn’t own one Neil Diamond album. Yet he so permeated pop culture that my self-conscious and cool-obsessed teenage brain could not help but love him.
Now Neil Diamond is all sorts of hip. “Sweet Caroline” serves as a quasi-anthem for the Boston Red Sox and is beloved by frat boys everywhere. (They like to shout “So good! So good! So good!”) Diamond was the focus of the bawdy 2001 movie “Saving Silverman.” Diamond will appear on TODAY on May 2, performing songs from his new album, “Home Before Dark,” which is due out four days later. It is Diamond’s second album to be produced by perhaps the coolest guy in the music industry — Rick Rubin. Diamond also appeared on “American Idol” on April 29, as a mentor to the remaining five contestants.
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If you're still breathing, it's not too late!
Fame never went to his head.
