When you’re on a merry-go-round, you miss a lot of the scenery.

Meaning of the quote

When you're riding on a merry-go-round, you only see the same things going around and around. You miss all the interesting things happening around you. This means that if you focus too much on one thing, you might not see the bigger picture or all the wonderful things happening around you.

About Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond is an American singer-songwriter who has sold over 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

More about the author

More quotes from Neil Diamond

No, I majored in biology, in a pre-med program.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I think probably Australians have just a little more taste than most people.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Songwriting is different from music, although I don’t deny now that it would be nice to have a little more background in music theory.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Brooklyn is not the easiest place to grow up in, although I wouldn’t change that experience for anything.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

It’s very difficult for me to say ‘I love you’ but to sing ‘I love you’ for me is easier.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I don’t like all of the music to be serious and deadly.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I’m lucky. Hard work is the key, but luck plays a part.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Because my musical training has been limited, I’ve never been restricted by what technical musicians might call a song.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Chelsea Morning is a great Joni Mitchell song and I guess I’m partial to her lyrics because they show me a slightly different perspective on life.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

The main objective in any song, the songs that I write, has always been that it reflect the way I feel, that it touch me when I’m finished with it, that it moves me, that it can take me along with it and involve me in what its saying.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

When you’re on a merry-go-round, you miss a lot of the scenery.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I still need practice in enjoying the fruits of success.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I’ve looked at photographs of myself during concerts and it sometimes looks as if I’m in a fencing move, with a guitar in my hands instead of a sword.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Song Sung Blue took a lot of compressing and refining, and it has one of my favorite lyrics.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I’ve always thought of music as something which gives the words their flight and their wings and the music often comes first, although sometimes I’ll have a concept, a title idea, a lyric idea that I want to write and the lyric will come first.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Songwritng is what I do.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

Songs are life in 80 words or less.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

There’s a mystery to writing, and you don’t really know where most of it comes from.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

I came back to performing with a different attitude about performing and myself. I wasn’t expecting perfection any more, just hoping for an occasional inspiration.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter

If it can affect me, if it has meaning to me, if I feel I can do it well, I will do it and record it and thats why I recorded these songs.

Neil Diamond

American recording artist; singer-songwriter