Beautiful Funeral Song: “Morningside” by Neil Diamond
Credit: quercus-furniture.co.uk
In 1972, Neil Diamond released a very touching song he wrote called “Morningside” on his album, Moods. “Morningside” was heavily inspired by Neil Diamond’s own reflections about his grandparents’ deaths. In his own words, “Morningside is a very sad song. It’s a song of dying alone, something that I’ve been aware of for a long time. I was struck by it when my grandparents passed away – that they did die alone – that they weren’t with their children when they died. And a year and a half ago when I was in London for the first time, I passed a shop and saw this beautiful table in the window. It was carved by hand and for some reason the two things came together and the song started then.”
We cannot help but reflect about how heart wrenching it must have been for the elderly man when he died “And no one cried/They simply turned away.”
Neil Diamond’s smooth yet gravelly voice, along with the slowed-down tempo of the music, allows listeners to pay careful attention to his meaningful lyrics. We cannot help but reflect about how heart wrenching it must have been for the elderly man when he died, “And no one cried/They simply turned away.” After singing these lyrics solemnly, Diamond turns his attention to the gift that the elderly man left in the event of his death. Although the man died alone, “He left a table made of nails and pride/And with his hands,/He carved these words inside/’For my children’.” He hoped that, even though his children were absent when he died, this handcrafted table would serve as a beautiful reminder of how much he loved them.
“Wash away the sadness” represents the journey of learning important life lessons in times of loss and grief.
As the narrator in the song, Diamond shares his own reflections about the man’s fate. The contrast between day and night reflects his grief process. He acknowledges his different emotional reactions by saying, “Morning light/Morning bright/I spent the night/With dreams that make you weep/Morning time/Wash away the sadness/From these eyes of mine/For I recall the words an old man signed/’For my children’.” “Wash away the sadness” represents the journey of learning important life lessons in times of loss and grief.
Neil Diamond
(Credit: pinterest.com)
The somber, reflective nature of the lyrics, which are so beautifully evoked in Diamond’s singing, makes it a wonderful choice to be played at a funeral. Listening to “Morningside” will allow mourners, in a collective setting, to reflect on the statuses of their relationships with their loved ones, especially their aging parents. Even if people cannot be with a loved one when he or she dies, they can take comfort in knowing that the dying person will still forgive and love them, and possibly leave something for them to be remembered by for years to come.
…Morningside
An old man died
And no one cried
He surely died alone
And truth is sad
For not a child would claim the gift he had
The words he carved became his epitaph
‘For my children’
Read the entire lyrics here.
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This song touched my heart years ago as a young college girl. Now a gramma, distant from my children, the lyrics surreal, are playing out my story.
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I know this feelling very well. Morningside was played for hours at my husband’s memorial, not because he carved a table for his children, but because he didn’t have anything he made to leave them and wished he had that like the words in the song the first time he heard it
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I love all the Neil Diamond songs but this one touched me unlike any other. This song is very deep in meaning and it just feels my heart with emotions.
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One of my favourites
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One of my top favorites of his since I was a teen and touched me hard and still does in my 50’s
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This song reminds me of my own father. Exactly this happened. No one cried, they simply turned away… He left me 2 handcrafted chairs he made himself, not a table, but the story is the same….
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i guess you all don’t ‘get it’……
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metaphor,….. for Christ,.. the word of GOD, and his promise,…. “for my children”…… us ! the table was the Word of GOD,…. the nails and pride,…. his works,.. the cross…. ok,.. i give up,… ya’ll think it’s simple….
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That’s exactly how I interpreted it and my eyes filled with tears.
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Ummm … no. You are projecting here. You do no Neil Diamond is Jewish?
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God Moves in Mysterious Ways, Jewish or non-Jewish, he can use Neil Diamond to write a song for one purpose when in fact, it is doing a purpose that God intends. Open your mind to the possible, probable and spiritual side of our beings.
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Neil Diamond
taught me the Gospel of John.
… In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….
Be
As a Word which speaks
on a Theme that is Timeless…
And the One God will make for your way….
I was 12, reading this Gospel, and listening to Neil’s LP, more united in moment and meaning than any soundtrack could contrive.
Forever after, the one has interpreted the other, and defined what it is to Be.
Indeed,
they who dwelt in darkness have seen a great Light….
You may know Him, if you may…..
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Hi Dorianne,
Thank you for your deep contribution.
Suzette Sherman, Founder SevenPonds
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That is the beauty of the arts, be it a story, a painting, a poem or in this case a lyric of a song. The listener/ observer is able to interpret what he/she wants and can appreciate it however they want. Please don’t minimize someone’s interpretation or feelings in favor of your own interpretation.
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While I firmly believe Neil to be a God fearing believer, this song was referring to memories of his own grandparents lonely death and Neil actually seeing a hand carved table with chairs. He put the two together and made a wonderful analogy like no other artist could compose. He then presented it to us with a voice that no other will ever posses. Morningside is timeless as well as priceless.
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This is exactly how I interpret these beautiful lyrics! Very deep, and personal.
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This song touches me like no other.
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I believe this to be the most beautiful piece of music that Neil has ever written. There has never been another song that has touched me so deeply since it was released over 40 years ago. Until now when a young 13 year old Grace Vanderwaal wrote and released “Darkness Keeps Chasing Me”
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Hi Bernard, we really appreciate your sharing how this song has moved you. Thank you for visiting our online magazine.
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thank you
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I first heard this song when I was in basic training in the Army. It was newly released on the radio, and I bought the cassette as soon as I could, and just about wore it out. Now in my mid-60’s, I feel the loneliness of having had children (adopted) who care more for what they are getting when I die than me or each other. Even though they are biological siblings, they just do not understand the concept of sharing. They say the orphanage ruined them, and perhaps that is so. However, it is so sad not just for me, but knowing when I move on they are not reconciled. Maybe one day they will be, but it is getting so late in the game. And this song speaks to the yearning as well as loneliness. Very poignant. Thank you.
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Hello Gary,
Thank you for sharing and letting us know how this song relates to you.
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I love this song and I have given my children things I have made for them, paintings and a hand made quilt I have given to my son. It is a king size double wedding ring design and it took me years to make and I wonder if it means anything to them. I am an artist and my son has a lot of my paintings so what I have made with my hands may live on. I am an artist and this is my life even though I am 80 then s year.
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Jullian,
How amazing of you to share your memories of how you have offered your children gifts of your art to each of them. Such treasures of your hands and creativity to last them a lifetime.
Suzette, Founder SevenPonds
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This song makes me think of my dad who was a carpenter. He got cancer and died in 1985 and it always upset me that we were not in the hospital when he passed. The nurse called us after he had died. We so wanted to be there with him. He had lingered for over a month and was unsure how long he had but I know dad knew we loved him.
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This song is my dad and my siblings. When he died at the age of 89, he left 6 of us 40 acres of land, with my childhood home, AND the oaken table. It was all he had left to give. That was in 2003 and, since that time my family has completely split apart due to selfishness, lies, deception and manipulation. I have 4 brothers who blame him for all their problems and constantly crap on the gift he left us. My sister and I have worked hard to keep the homeplace up – mowing, spraying weeds, fixing the leaking roof, cleaning out and keeping out the mice, buying new linens and pots/pans (because some of the brothers stole these things after Dad died), and repairing a portion of the house not on a foundation. Yet, our love and respect for Dad and the gift he left us is constantly thrown in our faces with accusations like “you’re only doing this to get attention” from our brothers. This has broken my heart so badly that I’ve lost all emotional connection to my brothers I once had. They now mean no more to me than a complete stranger on the street. My sister and I will continue to care for the gift Dad left us…our brothers be damned. So, every time I hear this song, I think of Dad, cherish the gift he left even more, and wish with all my heart he was still alive and well on our place.
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My absolute favorite Neil Diamond song.
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I heard this song probably not to long after it came out. It took me awhile to really listen to it, and when I did it mad me sad and also I kind of felt like it was kind of about me. This was when I was in Jr. High or High school. I am 62 now, and I am divorced, and my kids, 2 adopted,1 biological, have nothing to do with me.
I never built anything they would want. The words “No one cried, They simply turned away.” Seem prophetic to me.
My parents are still alive at 92, and have been married since 1955. With this Covid bit and lock down it could happen to us. I had hope not
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That’s so sad, Rod. But you know it’s never too late to reach out and try to mend fences. I don’t know your story, but anything is possible. I think this pandemic has shown us that the time to do what we want to do is now. Please think about it. Maybe your children will do the same and reach out to you!
Be safe and stay well!
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My dad died today september 12, 2020.This song reminded me of my dad when i first heard it about 20 years ago. Today he is gone at age 92 but the song remains, it was his voice before and it is still his voice now. I cannot explain it.
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I heard this song today for the first time in decades. I grew up listening to Neil Diamond. As a teen, I loved this song but had no real understanding until now. I see it completely opposite from the blog writer as applied to my father. The table built with nails and pride describes my father’s stubbornness and difficulties in how he’s dealt with us, each of his 4 children, over the years. For my children? He’s given nothing of himself except Nail and pride. Nothing more. We all but one have turned away. I don’t know if anyone will cry. BTW, my mother was even worse.
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Thanks for offering your personal relationship to the song. Your sudden understanding is one of the beautiful aspects of life. How as we age and experience more, and then reflect on the past, we bring our experiences to words and their meaning. We appreciate your sharing your own meaning with us. I hope life brings you more insight going forward and you can experience peaceful days because of it.
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Today my father passed away. He was in Spokane Washington oh, and I was in Illinois. We grew up listening to Neil Diamond, and the album from Jesus Christ Superstar. The smell of Old Spice combined with any Neil Diamond song brought me next to my dad even though he was a thousand miles away. My father had three children two girls who live in Illinois and a son that lives in Spokane Washington. The song stopped all communication with us sisters about 15 years ago for no reason. So today I got the news through a phone call that my brother left for somebody else he told me that my father passed away in the memory care facility with the song Morningside playing on the radio. I’m sitting here in my room he just played the song and I wished for one more time I could talk to my dad. I’m in my mid-fifties and I know it’s time for people to pass away but it’s hard even at my age, it still hurts as if I were five years old. Fly high Daddy
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Laura,
Thanks for sharing this with us. Your love and emotion spills through your words. Incredible how songs can carry so much meaning and memories to even lift us high – to fly high.
Suzette
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I only got to meet my Dad when I was 15. (very dysfunctional family). I was brought up in care of the local authorities in the 1950’s and ’60s. I had 3 gloriously happy years with my dad. Then he died at aged 54, just as I got to know him really well. He had a massive heart attack. Now I’m in my mid 60’s and have survived four heart attacks, thanks to the brilliance of the UK’s wonderful NHS. I’ve had 8 children, 17 grandchildren and now 2 great-grandchildren. None of them want anything to do with me. I sincerely believe I will die alone as in the song.
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But what of the old men that die alone because of the pride they have demonstrated and the alienation they have caused because of it? For those of us who have fielded little more than criticism and condemnation for what we did wrong (rather than guidance on how to do things good and right), this song carries a different meaning — an irony.
When my grandfather passed away, the nicest thing anyone had to say that he was prompt and sang in the church choir. Most people just said “Thank God”. It breaks my heart. I don’t think anyone wants to be that sort of person, but at least for me it’s a fear. I fear that for my dad who usually seems to forget I exist unless he doesn’t approve of something. I feel a deep sadness about it. He’s 80 now and I have been grieving the loss of my father my whole life. He provided for my physical needs as a child, but he was never safe.
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For me this song speaks my grief for my own father who is still alive, yet I know feels lost and unable to connect with his children (me and my brother). I love him dearly but he’s only ever been in the background and the shadows of my life – a silent and unspoken presence. When I needed his protection he wasn’t there. I knew I couldn’t count on him in that way – he knew too. I wonder what he will leave – carved or not.
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Love this song. My husband died 2022 estranged from our daughter. @87. I guess I will too, she won’t come see me, very stiff when I call, no reason that I know. Have a son who is so loving and helpful. 100% different from his sister. They don’t talk either. So sad, she used to be so close. Have 3 adopted grandchildren by my son, they love me so much as I love them too. My daughter doesn’t know what she is missing, love!
Husband died of Alzheimers next morning after I had been to see him, I was just out of hospital with pneumonia I’m now 86.
Hope the song doesn’t apply to me soon. But I love to hear it.
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