Neil Diamond – “Something Blue (Live From Erasmus Hall)” and a Quiet Confrontation with the Past
When Neil Diamond stepped onto the stage at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn to perform Something Blue, it wasn’t merely a nostalgic appearance. It was a quiet, deeply personal confrontation with his own past — with youth, early heartbreaks, and a song he rarely chose to revisit.
An Overlooked Song from His Early Years
Released in 1966, Something Blue came from a time when Neil Diamond was still finding his footing in the music industry. The song never became a major hit, nor did it define his career the way later classics would. As a result, it slowly faded from public memory.
Yet musically and emotionally, Something Blue carries a subtle weight. It lacks the dramatic crescendos of Diamond’s later ballads, but instead offers a restrained sadness — the kind that lingers quietly rather than demanding attention.
The Meaning Behind the Title
The phrase “something blue” comes from a traditional Western wedding rhyme symbolizing fidelity and hope. But in Diamond’s song, blue becomes something else entirely — not hope, but the emotional residue left behind after love has already slipped away.
The lyrics feel like an internal monologue: gentle, reflective, and deeply personal. There’s no blame, no anger — only acceptance and loss.
Why Neil Diamond Rarely Performed It
For decades, Something Blue was almost absent from Neil Diamond’s live performances. This wasn’t because the song lacked quality, but because it belonged to a fragile chapter of his life — a time before fame, before confidence, and before emotional wounds had fully healed.
Diamond once suggested that some songs aren’t forgotten — they’re intentionally avoided, because they reopen doors that never truly closed.
Erasmus Hall: Where It All Began
Erasmus Hall High School is one of Brooklyn’s most historic schools, but for Neil Diamond, it represents something far more personal. It’s where he first discovered music, first wrote songs, and first imagined a future as an artist.
Choosing to perform Something Blue there was symbolic — a full circle moment. A man who had traveled the world and sold millions of records returned to the place where he was once just a quiet student with a guitar and a dream.
A Performance Without Spectacle
In Live From Erasmus Hall, Diamond doesn’t attempt to reinvent the song. He delivers it slowly, softly, and without embellishment. There’s no grand staging, no dramatic build — just a voice shaped by time and memory.
That restraint is precisely what makes the performance powerful. It feels less like a concert and more like a private reckoning.
An Artist Facing Himself
At this stage in his life, Neil Diamond had nothing left to prove. Revisiting Something Blue wasn’t about impressing an audience — it was about acknowledging a part of himself he had once set aside. Not every song is meant to be a hit. Some exist simply to remind the artist where they began — and how far they’ve come. And Something Blue is one of those songs.