A DIFFERENT BEAT
I rambled on and on about redemption and recognition for a penniless profession earlier in the year end review, I've found redemption in a very different, and perhaps even more inspiring way. After starting out as a starving, desperate songwriter in the mid sixties, Neil Diamond managed to find success much earlier than most artists ever do.
Of course, this success often made him churn out pop hits for other artists, but soon his star rose high enough to keep his own name in lights. His early albums were stunning - the voice of a crisp, uncluttered songwriter singing with a guitar. As time passed, so did the unaccompanied sound, and he still managed to put together some hits despite the not so silent creep of orchestras and additional flourishes that made him your parents' favorite rock and roll singer of contemporary adult pop.
He hit his apex in the orchestral nature of his work with Jonathon Livingstone Seagull, an epic seventies, um, masterpiece in which overblown orchestral direction left our once proud singer/songwriter alone to parade in sequins to large sold out crowds churning out the same pop hits every night.
I wrote about this problem after seeing Neil for the fourth time live this October in Houston. But word spread that he was working with Rick Rubin on a new album. After Rick's work with Johnny Cash's last albums, I was more than excited, and after buying the album, I wasn't let down in the least.
|
Hell Yeah by Neil Diamond
12 Songs LP
If you're thinking that my life
Is a hoot and a holler
From the start of the day
To the dark of the night
And that its ringin' like a bell
That you only want to follow
Gotta trust me when I say
I'm just trying to get it right
Still I think about myself
As a lucky old dreamer
If you're askin' me to tell
Is it worth what I paid
You gonna hear me say
Hell yeah it is
And I say it loud
I loved
it all
And I'm not too proud
I freed my soul...just let it fly
Hell yeah this crazy life around me
It confuses and confounds me
But it's all the life I've got until I die
Hell yeah it is
If you're asking for my time
Isn't much left to give you
Been around a good long while
So I gotta say it fast
Time is all we'll ever need
But it's gotta have a meaning
You be careful how it's spent
Cause it isn't going to last
I hear you wondering out loud
Are you ever gonna make it?
Will you ever work it out?
Will you ever take a chance
And just believe you can?
Hell yeah you will
You're gonna be okay
And you might get lost
But then you'll find a way
Don't go alone
Can't be afraid
Hell yeah
This life is here and it's made for livin'
And love's a gift that's made for givin'
You give it all away and have it still
And Hell yeah you will
I've been living in a bowl
With a lot of people staring
With my feet on shaky ground
And my head up in the sky
But it's where I want to be
It's a life that's made for
caring
Got a song to pass the day
And a girl to share the night
So if they ask you when I'm gone
Was it everything he wanted?
When he had to travel on
Did he know he'd be missed?
You can tell them this
Hell yeah he did!
He saw it all
He walked the line
Never had to crawl
He cried a bit
But not for long
Hell yeah
He found the life that he was after
Filled it up with love and laughter
Finally got it right
And made it fit
Hell yeah he did!
Hell yeah he did!
Hell yeah he did!
|
