Cool story behind this song: I heard it with my own little ears. A lady called up one night during the Christmas season a couple of years ago, when Delilah had Neil Diamond, as a guest ,on her evening show. The woman told of a particularly dark time in her life, when she was in such despair that she had decided to take her own life. She was in the car, prepared to go through with it and she had the 8 track tape of this song playing and the words to I Am, I Said suddenly filled her with hope. Many years later, she was able to tell her story to Neil Diamond, about a dark night when his song touched her life and gave her the strength to go forward. Neil Diamond told the lady that she had made his year, hearing that story. I love this song and I can't help thinking of that lady, every time I listen to it. I think that if Neil Diamond can sing about that kind of emptiness and loneliness, than maybe we aren't the only ones out there; we are all together in our loneliness...
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 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
Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein' a king
And then became one
Well except for the names and a few of the 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 a