Holly Holy
| "Holly Holy" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Hurtin' You Don't Come Easy" |
"Holly Holy" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Released as a single in October 1969,[1] it was quite successful as the follow-on to "Sweet Caroline", reaching number 6 on the U.S. pop singles chart by December.[2][3] It became a gold record and then eventually platinum.[1]
A work with a spiritual focus,[4] "Holly Holy" was influenced by gospel music[1] and was Diamond's favorite of the songs he had written to that point.[3] It begins quietly with acoustic guitar against a bass line, with the sparse lyric stretched with elongated vowels. Gradually the arrangement builds up with a tempo shift in the bridge and a backing choir against strings lasting throughout.
"Holly Holy" was later included on Diamond's November 1969 album Touching You, Touching Me.[1] It has been included in live versions on Diamond's Hot August Night (from 1972) and Greatest Hits: 1966–1992 (from 1992), as well as in various compilations.
A treatment of "Holly Holy" by Jr. Walker & the All Stars was a modest R&B hit in 1971.[1]
Nancy Sinatra covered the song for her second TV special, "Movin' with Nancy on Stage" in 1971.
"Holly Holy" was covered in 1998 by UB40.
"Holly Holy" was a key soundtrack song in "Holy Smoke!" [5]
In Here Comes the Boom, it is sung by Charice.
Another reading of "holy" is "wholly". The title of the song can be interpreted as: "Holly Totally"
Lyrics
As mentioned above, the song draws upon gospel music for inspiration, and is particularly noted for its inspiring gospel style lyrics (see below)[6]
Call the sun in the dead of the night
Oh the sun's gonna rise in the sky
Touch a man who can’t walk upright
And that lame man, he’s gonna fly
And I fly
And I fly
References
- ^ a b c d e William Ruhlmann. "Neil Diamond: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1983). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: 1955 to present. Billboard Publications. ISBN 0-8230-7511-7. p. 88.
- ^ a b Jackson, Laura (2005). Neil Diamond: His Life, His Music, His Passion. ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-707-6. pp. 65–66.
- ^ Neil McCormick (2008-03-05). "Neil Diamond: the hurt, the dirt, the shirts". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Holy Smoke (1999) - Soundtracks
- ^ [1]
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