“The Devil’s just blowing smoke. If you listen to that, there’s just a bunch of noise. There’s no melody to it, there’s no nothing.” »read more
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This is a tribute to immigration in America, where people from all over the world were welcome to come and seek opportunity. Diamond grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where many Europeans arrived. His grandparents were immigrants: on his father's side they came from Poland, and on his mother's side from Russia. (thanks to David Wild, author of He Is...I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond)
Michael Dukakis used this as his theme song in his failed 1988 Presidential campaign to emphasize his own ethnic origins as a third-generation American. (thanks, Ken - Louisville, KY)
Diamond wrote this for the 1980 movie The Jazz Singer, where he starred as a young Jewish man who must defy his father to follow his dreams of becoming a singer.
Will Ferrell used to impersonate Diamond on Saturday Night Live. In one bit where they did a fake Behind The Music, Ferrell (as Diamond) said this song was "fueled creatively by my massive hatred of immigrants."
More songs by Neil Diamond
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Comments:
I adore this song!!!
- Farrah, Elon, NC
Bob Rivers (twistedtunes.com) did a parody ("Sneak Into America") with a similar subject, except it's about illegal immigration.
- Steven, Sunnyvale, CA