Solitary Man (song)

Recorded in late January 1966 and initially released on Bang Records in April 1966, "Solitary Man" was Diamond's debut single as a recording artist, having already had moderate (but accidental) success as a songwriter for other artists; their versions of the songs he had already written and composed were released before his own versions.^[1] By July, the track had become a minor hit, rising to No. 55 on the U.S. pop singles chart.^[1] It would then be included on Diamond's first album, The Feel of Neil Diamond, which he released in August 1966.^[1]

The song is a "ballad of a loner looking for love."^[2] The theme of the song has been closely identified with Diamond himself, as evinced by a 2008 profile in The Daily Telegraph: "This is the Solitary Man depicted on his first hit in 1966: the literate, thoughtful and melodically adventurous composer of songs that cover a vast array of moods and emotions..."^[3]

In the lyrics, the singer lists some of his relationships and how they each ended. He laments "I know it's been done, having one girl who loves you." But he doubts it will happen for him. Indeed, Diamond himself would tell interviewers in the 2000s, "After four years of Freudian analysis, I realized I had written 'Solitary Man' about myself."^[4]

After Diamond had renewed commercial success with Uni Records at the end of the decade, Bang Records re-released "Solitary Man" as a single and it reached No. 21 on the U.S. pop charts in the summer of 1970.^[5] It also reached No. 6 on the Easy Listening chart.^[6]

Billboard praised the "solid dance beat and excellent production backing."^[2] Record World said that the "acoustic backing is just right for [Diamond] to get another ride to the top of the charts."^[7]

Diamond originally recorded two versions of the song, as he later did with "Cherry, Cherry." The one version had his harmonic vocal track on the refrain of the song, along with accompaniment by a wordless female chorus. The other version was him singing the song alone, without his prerecorded harmony or the female chorus.^{[citation needed]}

In a 2005 Rolling Stone retrospective, Dan Epstein wrote, "'Solitary Man' remains the most brilliantly efficient song in the Diamond collection. There's not a wasted word or chord in this two-and-a-half minute anthem of heartbreak and self-affirmation, which introduced the melancholy loner persona that he's repeatedly returned to throughout his career."^[8]