"Song Sung Blue" is a

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album '' Moods'', and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilation albums. The song was a #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for one week, the week of July 1, and it spent twelve weeks in the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

. It also made the pop chart in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, reaching #14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Song Sung Blue" was Diamond's second #1 hit in the U.S., after

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

's "

Cracklin' Rosie "Cracklin' Rosie" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond in 1970, with instrumental backing by Los Angeles session musicians from the Wrecking Crew, including Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass, Al Case ...

", and to date his last solo #1 song (he had a #1 duet with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

in 1978, with "

You Don't Bring Me Flowers "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" is a song written by Neil Diamond with Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the daily TV sitcom ''All That Glitters''. The song was intended to be the theme song, but Norman Lear, the show's creator, changed the concept of the ...

"). In addition, "Song Sung Blue" spent seven weeks at #1 on the

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 108. The song has become one of Diamond's standards, and he often performs it during concerts. "Song Sung Blue" was nominated for two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and Song of the Year. Both awards that year were won by

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", "Wher ...

's rendition of Ewan MacColl's song, "

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his ...

". '' Cash Box'' said of it that "the song gives the phrase 'Everybody, sing!' new meaning." Diamond described "Song Sung Blue" in the liner notes to his 1996 compilation album, ''In My Lifetime'', as a "very basic message, unadorned. I didn't even write a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

to it. I never expected anyone to react to "Song Sung Blue" the way they did. I just like it, the message and the way a few words said so many things."

Later uses

The song inspired the title of a 2008 documentary about a Neil Diamond impersonator who was married to a

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

impersonator.Song Sung Blue
at IMDB

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

Andy Williams released a version in 1972 on his album, ''

Alone Again (Naturally) "Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was recorded in 1972 at the same time as his album '' Back to Front'' and was a worldwide hit. The single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one on ''B ...

''. Hot Butter released a version in 1972 on their album ''Hot Butter''.

Johnny Paycheck Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song " Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greate ...

released a version in 1972 on his album Somebody Loves Me.

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou" ...

recorded the song in French as "Chanson Bleue". British new wave group

Altered Images Altered Images are a Scottish new wave/post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums from 1981 to 1 ...

released a version in 1982 on the album '' Pinky Blue''.

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...

performed the song in 1972 during his summer television show, and his version was included on the 2004 album, '' Aces Back to Back''. Frank Sinatra also recorded a version on his ''

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

'' album (1980). The Nolan Sisters recorded a version which is on their 1978 ''20 Giant Hits'' album.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Song Sung Blue 1972 singles Songs written by Neil Diamond Neil Diamond songs Andy Williams songs Altered Images songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Switzerland 1972 songs Uni Records singles Songs about music Song recordings produced by Tom Catalano