If You Know What I Mean

"If You Know What I Mean" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. It is a track from Diamond's 1976 album, Beautiful Noise, and was his third number 1 on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent two weeks. "If You Know What I Mean" went to number 1 for two nonconsecutive weeks and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] In Canada, the song reached number 19 on the pop singles chart[2] and hit number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[3]

"If You Know What I Mean"
Single by Neil Diamond
from the album Beautiful Noise
B-side"Street Life"
ReleasedJune 1976
Genre
Length3:41
LabelColumbia Records
Songwriter(s)Neil Diamond
Producer(s)Robbie Robertson
Neil Diamond singles chronology
"The Last Picasso"
(1975)		 "If You Know What I Mean"
(1976)		 "Don't Think... Feel"
(1976)

Background

Billboard described "If You Know What I Mean" as a "powerful ballad," stating that Diamond sings with more emotion than he had in the recent past, and also praising Robbie Robertson's production.[4] Cash Box said that the song "has a couple of diverse, yet distinct musical moods" and that "the chorus, underscored by a first class string section, builds the song up to an emotional peak."[5]

Diamond has stated that the song is a "tender recollection" of a relationship in his teens, in which he successfully seduced a significantly older woman.[6]

Chart history

See also

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 78.
  2. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  3. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  4. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. June 12, 1976. p. 72. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  5. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 12, 1976. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  6. Bream, Jon (2009). Neil Diamond Is Forever: The Illustrated Story of the Man and His Music (Voyageur Press), page 89.
  7. "Neil Diamond – If You Know What I Mean" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  8. "Neil Diamond – If You Know What I Mean" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  9. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  10. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. August 7, 1976. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  11. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 29, 1976" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  12. "Neil Diamond – If You Know What I Mean" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  13. "Neil Diamond – If You Know What I Mean". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  14. "Neil Diamond: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  15. "Neil Diamond Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  16. "Neil Diamond Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Neil Diamond – If You Know What I Mean" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  18. "Jaaroverzichten 1976". Ultratop. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  19. "Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  20. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1976".
  21. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1976" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  22. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  23. Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1976


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