Dear Diary (song)

This article is about The Moody Blues song. For Pink's song, see Missundaztood.
"Dear Diary"
Song by The Moody Blues from the album On the Threshold of a Dream
Released 25 April 1969
Recorded 15–16 January 1969
Genre Art rock
Length 3:57
Label Deram Records
Writer Ray Thomas
Producer Tony Clarke

On the Threshold of a Dream track listing
Side one
  1. "In the Beginning"
  2. "Lovely to See You"
  3. "Dear Diary"
  4. "Send Me No Wine"
  5. "To Share Our Love"
  6. "So Deep Within You"
Side two
  1. "Never Comes the Day"
  2. "Lazy Day"
  3. "Are You Sitting Comfortably?"
  4. "The Dream"
  5. "Have You Heard (Part 1)"
  6. "The Voyage"
  7. "Have You Heard (Part 2)"

"Dear Diary" is a 1969 song by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. Written by the band's flautist Ray Thomas, "Dear Diary" was first released on the 1969 album On the Threshold of a Dream.

The lyrics of "Dear Diary" draw inspiration from the Eastern concept of Maya (illusion), and basically describe a man's alienation from the illusions of normal society. He sees people "rushing around so senselessly" and posits that "if they weren't so blind, then surely they'd see, there's a much better way for them to be." In the bridge of the song, the narrator states:

"They don't know what they're playing, They've no way of knowing what the game is, Still they carry on, doing what they can."

The song itself has a slow, ethereal sound to it, and Ray Thomas's lead vocal track is run through a Leslie speaker for an eerie effect. In a moment of humor typical of Thomas's writing, the song ends with the narrator remarking that someone had exploded an H bomb, but not anyone he knew.

Personnel