| "Holly Holy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Neil Diamond | ||||
| B-side | "Hurtin' You Don't Come Easy" | |||
| Released | October 1969 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||
| Genre | Pop/Rock | |||
| Length | 4:27 | |||
| Label | Uni Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Neil Diamond | |||
| Neil Diamond singles chronology | ||||
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"Holly Holy" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Released as a single in October 1969,[1] it was quite successful as the follow-on to "Sweet Caroline", reaching number 6 on the U.S. pop singles chart by December.[2][3] It became a gold record and then eventually platinum.[1]
A work with a spiritual focus,[4] "Holly Holy" was influenced by gospel music[1] and was Diamond's favorite of the songs he had written to that point.[3] It begins quietly with acoustic guitar against a bass line, with the sparse lyric stretched with elongated vowels. Gradually the arrangement builds up with a tempo shift in the bridge and a backing choir against strings lasting throughout.
"Holly Holy" was later included on Diamond's November 1969 album Touching You, Touching Me.[1] It has been included in live versions on Diamond's Hot August Night (from 1972) and Greatest Hits: 1966–1992 (from 1992), as well as in various compilations.
A treatment of "Holly Holy" by Jr. Walker & the All Stars was a modest R&B hit in 1971.[1]
Nancy Sinatra covered the song for her second TV special, "Movin' with Nancy on Stage" in 1971.
"Holly Holy" was covered in 1998 by UB40.
"Holly Holy" was a key soundtrack song in "Holy Smoke!" [5]