# What Song? Neil Diamond Sang It Too Slow **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2018, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795 "2018-10-11T05:15:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/1 "2018-10-11T05:15:18Z")
I’m hoping someone can just remember this off the top of their head… One of the songs Neil Diamond sang “back in the day”, one that got a lot of airplay, he sang… very… slow… in… half… speed… as… if… he… got… the… beat… wrong. Can you remember which one that might have been? If not, I’ll have a little listening party by myself when I get the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/2 "2018-10-11T06:27:55Z")
‘Song sung blue?’ Sinatra covers it with a bit of a clip. Diamonds is slower. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/3 "2018-10-11T07:46:19Z")
Possibly [September Morn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEQ6zWMQV74)? ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/4 "2018-10-11T14:53:22Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > ‘Song sung blue?’ > Sinatra covers it with a bit of a clip. Diamonds is slower. Diamond may sing that one a bit slower, but it sounds right, or at least not wrong, and it sounds like the same song. The song I’m remembering was oddly distorted by the way he changed it. Like he had made a regrettable decision while drunk to change the entire feel of the song, and unaccountably stuck with it even when he was sober again. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/5 "2018-10-11T14:57:00Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > Possibly [September Morn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEQ6zWMQV74)? That’s a slow song, but it fits as a slow song. The problematic song would sound better if you sang it literally twice as fast as he did. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/6 "2018-10-11T15:04:17Z")
(Imagine “Jump” by Van Halen, sung as slowly as “September Morn” - that’s the kind of problem I mean. A song he ruined by asking the band to play half speed.) Hmph… Just watch, I’ll be sort of right except for it wasn’t Neil Diamond, or something like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/7 "2018-10-11T15:04:44Z")
Probably too obvious, but “[Slow it Down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJayQvMjyTQ)?” “[Hello Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnbMHkiIGwk)” makes me want to kick him to speed up a little. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/8 "2018-10-11T15:08:54Z")
“Sweet Caroline” He seems to fall behind the music during the “hand, holding hand… reaching out… touching… me… touch… ing… you…” part ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/9 "2018-10-11T15:18:32Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Imagine “Jump” by Van Halen, sung as slowly as “September Morn” You don’t have to imagine! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/COtZZmWKcRI/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDA_f8_MO0mKFYyhayr4clsrKIb3w "Aztec Camera - Jump") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COtZZmWKcRI) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/10 "2018-10-11T15:35:29Z")
[Holly Holy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f5spy3-9XM) seems a bit slow to me. [I Am . . . I Said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxDyXK93o6g) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/11 "2018-10-11T16:48:41Z")
Ask the chair what it thinks. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/12 "2018-10-11T17:21:27Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Ask the chair what it thinks. I did, but I don’t think it heard. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/13 "2018-10-11T17:24:53Z")
[“Stones”?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4dTqsZbVA) ---
**Author:** ![bovine\_3.14159](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9bd4f/32.png) [@bovine\_3.14159](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bovine_3.14159)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/14 "2018-10-11T17:27:23Z")
Perhaps [I’m a Believer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4PzSSQtnp8)? Neil wrote it as a slow song but it became a pop hit by [The Monkees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv2MLlZKarM). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/15 "2018-10-11T17:36:03Z")
[quote=“Turek, post:9, topic:822795”] You don’t have to imagine! [/QUOTE] Hah! Thought of that, too. Great cover! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/16 "2018-10-11T17:42:29Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > [“Stones”?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4dTqsZbVA) That would be my guess, too. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/17 "2018-10-11T21:37:53Z")
Hey! I found it! It doesn’t strike me as quite so dramatically wrong as the first time I heard him sing it, but still, Mr. Diamond, this one was bad judgment for sure: The Last Thing On My Mind (Compare with Tom Paxton who wrote the song, or with most of the many others who’ve sung it over the years.) Diamond’s version makes the whole song sound like a Shatner monologue. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/18 "2018-10-12T23:42:16Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Hey! I found it! > > It doesn’t strike me as quite so dramatically wrong as the first time I heard him sing it, but still, Mr. Diamond, this one was bad judgment for sure: > > The Last Thing On My Mind Well, at least the **wonder mutt** and I got the right album, just the wrong song. 🙂 (Never had the album, never heard the song. I’ll check it out sometime later to see just how slow he sings it.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/19 "2018-10-13T11:24:09Z")
Wow, that was slow. This song got airplay, how exactly? I love Neil Diamond (at least up to about 1972), but jeez, I gave up on this song about halfway through. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795/20 "2018-10-13T15:01:20Z")
^ I tried to listen to some of the “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” soundtrack last night for comparison. I didn’t get far, at all. Yeesh! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-neil-diamond-sang-it-too-slow/822795.md?page=2)