| "Longfellow Serenade" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Neil Diamond | ||||
| from the album Serenade | ||||
| B-side | "Rosemary's Wine" | |||
| Released | 1974 (US) | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Neil Diamond | |||
| Producer(s) | Tom Catalano | |||
| Neil Diamond singles chronology | ||||
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"Longfellow Serenade" is the title of a 1974 song by the American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. It was written by Diamond, produced by Tom Catalano, and included on Diamond's album Serenade .
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"Longfellow Serenade" spent two weeks at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1974. [1] It was Diamond's second No. 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, following his 1972 single, "Song Sung Blue". [2] The song reached No. 1 in Switzerland and No. 2 in Germany.
Diamond described "Longfellow Serenade" in the liner notes to his 1996 compilation album, In My Lifetime: "Occasionally I like using a particular lyrical style which, in this case, lent itself naturally to telling the story of a guy who woos his woman with poetry." [2] The title of the song is a reference to the 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. [2] Diamond chose to reference Longfellow specifically after recalling an instance in which, while in his teens, Diamond had used one of the poet's works to successfully seduce a significantly older woman. [3]
Cash Box called it a "powerful up-tempo ballad", saying, "Neil handles the tune with his usual expertise and rich smooth vocal." [4] Record World said that Diamond "invokes a classic 19th century bard and turns in a true masterpiece of thought and performance perfection." [5]
