I Am I Said Karaoke - Neil Diamond

"I Am... I Said" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Released as a single on March 15, 1971, it was quite successful, at first slowly climbing the charts, then more quickly rising to number 4 on the U.S. pop singles chart by May 1971.

I Am I Said Song Trivia

"I Am... I Said" took Diamond four months to compose. One of his most intensely personal efforts, Neil Diamond told Mojo magazine July 2008 that this song came from a time he spent in therapy in Los Angeles. He said:

"It was consciously an attempt on my part to express what my dreams were about, what my aspirations were about and what I was about. And without any question, it came from my sessions with the analyst."

He said the song was written to find himself and added, "It's a tough thing for me to gather myself after singing that song."

The song garnered Diamond his first Grammy Awards nomination, for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

I Am I Said Song Lyrics

L.A.'s fine
The sun shines
Most the time
And the feeling is laid back

Palm trees grow
And rents are low
But you know I keep thinkin' about
Making my way back

Well I'm New York City born and raised
But nowadays I'm lost between two shores
L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home
New York's home but it ain't mine no more

"I am", I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair

"I am", I cried
"I am", said I
And I am lost and I can't
Even say why

Leavin' me lonely still
MUSICAL BREAK

Did you ever read about a frog
Who dreamed
of being a king
And then became one

Well except for the names
And a few other changes
If you talk about me
The story's the same one

But I got an emptiness
Deep inside
And I've tried
But it won't let me go

And I'm not a man
Who likes to swear
But I never cared
For the sound of being alone

"I am", I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair

"I am", I cried
"I am", said I
And I am lost and I can't
Even say why

"I am", I said
"I am", I cried
"I am"...

"I am", I said
"I am", I cried
"I am"...