(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Neil Diamond ... Subversive?!?! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2025-07-17 Neil Diamond — great tunes. If you are like me, you grew up on Neil Diamond songs. Some he sold to others and they recorded them as big hits, others he recorded himself and made big hits. One of his hits has become an anthem of sorts being played at many different sport arenas. Perhaps you’ve heard it? Sweet Caroline. It is used by sports teams to celebrate a win because of the line ‘Good times never seemed so good’. You young folks out there probably know another one of his songs that was originally recorded by a group called the Monkees back in the 60s and you got introduced to it (maybe) if you watched the animated film ‘Shrek’ from 2001 (“I’m A Believer”). There were many others that were big hits. “Cherry, Cherry”, “Solitary Man”, “Kentucky Woman”, “Thank the Lord for the Night Time”, “You Got to Me”, “Shilo”, “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” (the Monkees again) and many others. If you go listen to those songs, you get the impression of a romantic and a typical artist of the time. About as controversial as an apple pie. No scandals, no name calling, no belligerence to God, man or country. If I had to rate Neil Diamond among all the other artists of the 60s and 70s, he would be waaaayyyy down the list. There are probably hundreds of performers that I would think of before Neil Diamond to illustrate a controversial stance or subversive behavior. John Kay (lead singer for Steppenwolf), Neil Young, Cher, Lou Reed, John Lennon, the Smothers Brothers, even Jane Fonda would be higher on the list. It isn’t that I disagreed with any of them on their viewpoints or behavior for what they thought was right. It was that I could see in all of their issues that they were at least a perceived threat to the establishment which made the politicians and authoritarians of the time very nervous. My point is not that I was nervous or thought badly about any of them, just that I understood the ‘perceived threat’ they each posed. I don’t think any of the establishment nor anyone else in America would have Neil Diamond in their top 1000 list of enemies or threats. Not then and not now — at least not for me… The entire concept that anyone, and I mean anyone, would think of Neil Diamond as a subversive has made me scream at the top of my lungs: “WTF HAS HAPPENED HERE?!?!?!”. The problem is one song released in 1979 that will get Neil Diamond on the enemies list of the current administration. He is an ‘enemy of the people’s will’ for the Trump administration. And it is all because of a single song from Neil Diamond. And the only reason it comes to mind is that I was playing a bunch of Neil Diamond songs the other night and as soon as I started playing it, I realized what it meant today. It means that the US government has changed radically from normalcy in a short period of time. The song is “America”. The title seems simple enough and patriotic enough. Not controversial at all. And to me it IS patriotic through and through. But to the current administration? I would never have thought of Neil Diamond as anything other than a great songwriter, a good performer and never, ever would have I thought of him as a ‘subversive’. He wrote the song as a gift for his immigrant grandparents. He is Jewish (but to me that doesn’t really mean anything — all religions have come to the US — that was supposed to be the deal — separation of Church and State). He said himself that the song “In a way, it speaks to the immigrant in all of us”. My family immigrated to the US in or around 1700 but I’m still part of an immigrant family. Here are the lyrics: Far, we've been traveling far Without a home but not without a star Free, only want to be free We huddle close, hang on to a dream On the boats and on the planes They're coming to America Never looking back again They're coming to America Home, don't it seem so far away We're traveling light today In the eye of the storm In the eye of the storm Home, to a new and a shiny place Make our bed, we'll say our grace Freedom's light burning warm Freedom's light burning warm Everywhere around the world They're coming to America Every time that flag's unfurled They're coming to America Got a dream to take them there They're coming to America Got a dream they've come to share They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America today Today, today, today, today My country 'tis of thee (today) Sweet land of liberty (today) Of thee I sing (today) Of thee I sing today Today, today, today Today, today And you can listen to it here: What do you think? 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