Neil Diamond (from Q magazine July 2008): "The songs on this album are so new, I'm still trying to understand them myself. 'If I Don't See You again,' I still don't know what it's about intellectually; it's all stream-of-consciousness, emotion and passion. Every once in a while in that song I get struck like a thunderbolt. And that's what music is supposed to do."

Neil Diamond expanded on this song in an interview with Mojo magazine July 2008: "It's five pages of lyrics -I've never written a lyric that long - and it's all stream of consciousness. It's a very intricate and complicated song, and I didn't understand it while I was writing it because it was so…I don't know what you'd call it. When it was half-written I played it for Rick (Rubin, producer) and he loved it, and I said, 'There's only one problem: I have no idea what this song is about'- and usually you know what the song is about when you're writing it. He said, 'Well, you're doing good, so it doesn't matter if you know what it's about, just stay on that wavelength and keep writing,' which is what I did, and it turned out to be a very interesting song. And a very unusual song in that it was purely an emotional expression. I'm maybe being more honest at this point in my life and just letting it all hang out and letting them crucify me or however they will, but I like it. I think it's one of my best albums."