{{other uses}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox song | name = Play Me | cover = Play Me cover.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Neil Diamond | album = Moods | B-side = Porcupine Pie | released = August 1972<ref name="singles"/> | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Pop | length = 3:54 | label = Uni <small>55346</small><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xCgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36|title=Top 40 Easy Listening|date=August 26, 1972|magazine=Billboard|pages=36|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> | writer = Neil Diamond | producer = Tom Catalano | prev_title = Song Sung Blue | prev_year = 1972 | next_title = Walk On Water | next_year = 1972 }}
"'''Play Me'''" is a 1972 song by Neil Diamond from his album ''Moods''. The song, the first single from ''Moods'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Laura|title=Neil Diamond: His Life, His Music, His Passion|publisher=ECW Press|year=2005|page=92|isbn=978-1-55022-707-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1MCvNbOTdSgC&pg=PA92|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> was recorded in February 1972 in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zigEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16|title=Talent in Action|date=February 19, 1972|magazine=Billboard|pages=16|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> It was released as a single in May 1972 and peaked at #11 in the United States<ref name="singles">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iw4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56|title=Neil Diamond's Top Singles|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|date=December 9, 2006|magazine=Billboard|pages=57|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> in September of that year.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lonergan|first=David F.|title=Hit records, 1950–1975|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2005|page=174|isbn=978-0-8108-5129-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NP6OdDrutyAC&pg=PA174|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> It was listed by ''Billboard'' as #27 of his best 30 songs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bronson|first=Fred|title=Billboard's hottest hot 100 hits|publisher=Watson-Guptill|year=2003|edition=3|page=82|isbn=978-0-8230-7738-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mEIfDZtsVyAC&pg=PA82|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref>
The "catchy pop-rock"<ref>{{cite book|last=Bogdanov|first=Vladimir|author2=Chris Woodstra |author3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2002|edition=3|page=308|isbn=978-0-87930-653-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bgn9SGmA4dkC&pg=PA308|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> song is a medium-tempo waltz performed in 3/4 time at a standard tempo of 102 bpm.<ref name="wild">{{cite book|last=Wild|first=David|title=He Is . . . I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond|publisher=Seal Press|year=2009|pages=18–19|isbn=978-0-306-81835-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nlv6QWRnDyIC&pg=PA18|access-date=May 1, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ''Play Me'' features broken chords played on the acoustic guitar, courtesy of Diamond's long-time collaborator Richard Bennett.<ref name="wild"/> While Bennett had played on a few songs on Diamond's 1971 album ''Stones'', ''Moods'' was his first full collaboration with him, establishing Bennett as one of Diamond's essential players, playing on every Diamond album until 1987 and touring with him for 17 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vguitar.com/features/artists/details.asp?AID=2263|title=Features— Artists: Richard Bennett|last=Childs|first=Zac|date=May 3, 2007|work=Vintage Guitar|access-date=May 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308022737/http://vguitar.com/features/artists/details.asp?AID=2263|archive-date=March 8, 2009}}</ref>
==Reception==
===Female praise=== "Play Me" is an audience favorite, especially among women, who carry signs that read "Neil, Play Me" to his performances<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apeculture.com/music/neiltoday.htm|title=Neil Diamond – Today Show Concert|last=Wiskirchen|first=Julie|date=July 27, 2001|work=Ape Culture|access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref> and scream "me, me, me" when he plays the tune, described as "an entreaty to romance".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MN&p_theme=mn&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EFD64A5377470A0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Neil Diamond may not be hip, but he makes great music|date=July 13, 1996|work=Star Tribune|access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref> Along with "Love on the Rocks" and "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", it is one of the "baritone ballads" that have "60-year-old women erupting in girlish screams;"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/547548|title=Neil Diamond shines bright at ACC show|last=Rayner|first=Ben|date=December 3, 2008|work=Toronto Star|access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref> it makes female audience members shriek<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PLgTAAAAIBAJ&pg=6676,2635722&dq=play-me+women+neil-diamond&hl=en|title=There's No Doubt That Diamond Is Forever|last=Padman|first=Padmaja|date=July 27, 1992|work=New Straits Times|access-date=May 3, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and swoon.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diamond in the Round|date=November 18, 1996|work=Wichita Eagle|pages=9A}}</ref> According to Melissa Ruggieri, writing for ''Media General'' about a 2008 concert, "Diamond [at 67] also still possesses the ability to charm, even though he didn't need to do much except wiggle his prominent eyebrows at women in the crowd to elicit schoolgirl-like squeals—'Play Me,' in particular, had a bizarre aphrodisiac effect."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/entertainment/night_life/article/older_toned-down_diamond_let_his_songs_sparkle/7897/|title=Older, toned-down Diamond let his songs sparkle|last=Ruggieri|first=Melissa|date=December 9, 2008|publisher=Media General|access-date=May 3, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124101637/http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/entertainment/night_life/article/older_toned-down_diamond_let_his_songs_sparkle/7897/|archive-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref>
Singer/songwriter Mary Lee Kortes, while performing it in 2000 in New York, suggested that she had lost her virginity to the song.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/13/arts/pop-review-a-tribute-by-so-many-to-interpret-a-solitary-man.html?pagewanted=1|title=Pop Review: A Tribute by So Many to Interpret a Solitary Man|last=Powers|first=Ann|date=December 13, 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref> Nancy Sinatra said, "'Play Me' is my favorite [Neil Diamond] song, because it is sexy."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iw4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42|title=Playing Favorites|last=Block|first=Debbie Galante|date=December 9, 2006|magazine=Billboard|pages=38ff|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref>
===Critical acclaim=== It is widely praised by critics and musicians as well; it is among the top-ten favorite songs of American writer and critic David Wild. Wild was especially fond of the lines "You are the sun, I am the moon / You are the words, I am the tune / Play me",<ref name="wild"/> and other writers have cited the lines as well.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24371189|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506095000/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24371189/#ixzz0mjRKjqfT|url-status=live|archive-date=May 6, 2008|title=After 40 Years, Neil Diamond Is Still Shining|last=Johnson|first=Caitlin|date=April 29, 2008|publisher=MSNBC|access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref> Diamond himself has referred to those lines, for instance in an apology to a 2008 Columbus, Ohio, audience, for performing with a raspy voice while suffering from acute laryngitis.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-35205520080828|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711100550/http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-35205520080828|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 11, 2012|title=Neil Diamond offers concert audience a refund|date=August 28, 2008|publisher=Reuters|access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref> ''Billboard'' described it as a "potent cut."<ref name=bb>{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=August 2, 2020|title=Radio Action and Pick Singles|date=August 19, 1972|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1972/BB-1972-08-19.pdf|page=50}}</ref> ''Cash Box'' described it as "a ballad about he, she and the music" and considered it to be "delicious".<ref>{{cite news|title=CashBox Record Reviews|date=July 29, 1972|page=22|accessdate=December 11, 2021|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-07-29.pdf|newspaper=Cash Box}}</ref> ''Record World'' called it a "sweet and smooth ballad, seemingly born to be covered."<ref name=rw>{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=August 12, 1972|accessdate=March 30, 2023|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/72/RW-1972-08-12.pdf}}</ref>
===Lyrical criticism=== The song also has its detractors, and "Play Me" is not the only Diamond song criticized by some for its lyrics. Janice Kennedy said the song was "an exercise in fingernail-on-blackboard painfulness: 'Song she sang to me, song she brang to me.'"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://vancouversun.com/opinion/iPhone+assault+English+language/2877443/story.html|title=The iPhone's assault on the English language|last=Kennedy|first=Janice|date=April 13, 2010|work=The Vancouver Sun|access-date=May 1, 2010}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> American humorist Dave Barry also cited those lines, claiming that they made him like the song.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barry|first=Dave|title=Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|year=2000|page=3|isbn=978-0-7407-0600-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RR_6T8VDawIC&pg=PA3|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> Martin Pearson also criticised that line, commenting "Ugh! It's "brought", you horrible little American!"
===Academic criticism=== This song has also created significant debates in academic circles regarding the development of language and meaning within language, especially within the context of popular American songwriting. "If "''moose''" pluralizes to "''moose''", but "''goose''" pluralizes to "''geese''", then why can't the word "''brang''" be used as the past participle of "''bring''" instead of "''brought''"?. Who says that "''brought''" is sacrosanct in that case?" argued singer-songwriter David Persons at a symposium on songwriting and creative writing held at Stephen F. Austin University.<ref name="Shultz Creative Writing Series 1989">Dr. Lee Shultz Creative Writing Series. March 1989. David Persons: Writing Songs From Creative Writing Models.</ref> "There really are no rules in the practical sense in creative uses of English, and I am always thankful that I am a native English speaker, as it has so many irregularities and non-rules that it must be near impossible to learn as a second language. New words develop from new meanings and linguistic demands, and Neil Diamond's writing has made several significant contributions to that development throughout his career as he has added his own personal mark of genius to The Great American Songbook. In this case the rule has to be "Neil Diamond wrote it, I heard it and that settles it, ''Brang'' is in fact a word."<ref name="Shultz Creative Writing Series 1989"/>
==Chart history== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}
===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Chart (1972) !Peak<br />position |- |Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>{{cite book|first= David |last= Kent |author-link= David Kent (historian) |title= Australian Chart Book 1970-1992 |publisher= Australian Chart Book |location= St Ives, N.S.W. |year= 1993 |isbn= 0-646-11917-6|title-link= Kent Music Report }}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|25 |- |Germany <ref>{{cite web|author=Steffen Hung |url=https://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Neil+Diamond&titel=Play+Me&cat=s |title=Neil Diamond - Play Me |publisher=norwegiancharts.com |date= |accessdate=August 9, 2022}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|28 |- |Canada ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4213&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4213.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4213|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=October 7, 1972 |access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|3 |- {{singlechart|Canadatopsingles|6|chartid=4217|access-date=May 22, 2025}} |- {{single chart|Billboardhot100|11|artist=Neil Diamond|access-date=May 22, 2025}} |- {{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|3|artist=Neil Diamond|access-date=May 22, 2025}} |- |U.S. ''Cash Box'' Top 100<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19721007.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 7, 1972 |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322124824/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19721007.html |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|16 |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable" |- !Chart (1972) ! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |- |U.S. (Joel Whitburn's ''Pop Annual'')<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |date=1999 |title=Pop Annual |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |publisher=Record Research Inc. |isbn=0-89820-142-X}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|105 |} {{col-end}}
==Notable covers== *Gene Ammons<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Programmer's Potpourri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BigEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Play+Me%22+%22Gene+Ammons%22&pg=PA52 |newspaper=Billboard |date=March 31, 1973}}</ref> appears on album Got My Own. *Jose Feliciano<ref name="mining">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iw4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42|title=Mining Diamond's Catalog|last=Bessman|first=Jim|date=December 9, 2006|magazine=Billboard|pages=58–65|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> *Josh Groban<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/269455/stars-salute-neil-diamond-at-musicares-event|title= Stars Salute Neil Diamond At MusiCares Event|last=Donahue|first=Ann|date=February 7, 2009|magazine=Billboard|access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20257664,00.html|title=Inside the All-Star MusiCares Tribute to Neil Diamond|last=Boehm|first=Kristin|author2=Marisa Laudadio|date=February 7, 2009|work=People|access-date=May 3, 2010|archive-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012000059/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20257664,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> *U2<ref name="wild"/> *In 2008, Kate Ceberano recorded a version for her album So Much Beauty.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Neil Diamond singles}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1972 singles Category:Neil Diamond songs Category:Songs written by Neil Diamond Category:1972 songs Category:Uni Records singles Category:Song recordings produced by Tom Catalano