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Neil Diamond was having an existential crisis. He had just done a screen test for the role of comedian Lenny Bruce in an upcoming film--but didn't get the part.
At this point in Neil's career (the late '60s), he had already scored some major successes as a singer and songwriter. In addition to his own hits like "Cherry Cherry," Thank the Lord for the Nighttime," and "Sweet Caroline," he had written "I'm a Believer," which The Monkees took to #1 for several weeks in 1967.
Still, Neil's screen test rejection sent him into therapy, as he began questioning everything about his life and career. It also started a 4-month songwriting process that led to today's "Great Song of 1971," the extremely introspective and autobiographical, "I Am, I Said."
Music critics were almost unanimous in praise for the song, and Neil's fans loved it from the get-go, sending it into the Top in 11 countries. In the US, it reached #2 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart, and #4 on the Hot 100. In Canada, it peaked at #2 on the Top 40.
There were a few detractors, however. Humorist Dave Barry wrote an article complaining about the lyric, "No one heard at all, not even the chair."
And I quote: " What kind of line is that? Is Neil telling us he's surprised that the chair didn't hear him? Maybe he expected the chair to say, 'Whoa, I heard that!' My guess is that Neil was really desperate to come up with something to rhyme with 'there' and he had already rejected 'So I ate a pear,' 'Like Smokey The Bear,' and 'There were nits in my hair.'"
Ouch.
Granted, the lyric sounds odd when taken out of context, but it makes perfect sense within the song itself: sort of the definition of an existential crisis.
Anyway, Neil's fans went after Dave Barry with a barrage of hate mail, causing him to apologize profusely in print.
And then, for good measure, Neil garnered a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance-Male."
So there!
"I Am, I Said" by Neil Diamond: deeply personal...and a "Great Song of 1971!"
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