In 1982, Neil Diamond had the final No. 1 single of his career, and it was with “Heartlight”. The song, the title track of a studio album that also came out in 1982, was written by Diamond, along with Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach. A four-week chart-topping single, “Heartlight” was reportedly inspired by a popular movie that year, namely E.T.
Diamond, Sager, and Bacharach saw the film ahead of its actual release at a private screening. They immediately wrote “Heartlight” after seeing E.T.
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“We wanted to express how all of us felt about the little alien who suddenly appears in a strange world,” Diamond explains. “And to create a simple musical statement that we all felt very sincerely.”
Diamond got the term “heartlight” from E.T.’s heart glowing. Diamond played “Heartlight” for his son, Jesse, who was 12 years old at the time, to make sure the song worked for Diamond’s younger fans.
The Message in “Heartlight” by Neil Diamond
Like a lot of Diamond’s songs, “Heartlight” has a feel-good message. The song says, “I just made a friend / A friend is someone you need / But now that he had to go away / I still feel the words that he might say / Turn on your heartlight / Let it shine wherever you go / Let it make a happy glow / For all the world to see / Turn on your heartlight / In the middle of a young boy’s dream / Don’t wake me up too soon / Gonna take a ride across the moon / You and me / He’s lookin’ for home / ‘Cause everyone needs a place / And home’s the most excellent place of all / And I’ll be right here if you should call me.”
The lyrics “ride across the moon” are just one of the subtle references made to E.T. Sadly, although Diamond meant “Heartlight” in a favorable way, not everyone at the movie agreed. Diamond was reportedly threatened with a lawsuit, even though the movie is never explicitly named. Diamond paid $25,000 to avoid further legal trouble.
“Heartlight” spent four weeks in the No. 1 spot on the chart. The Heartlight album also includes “I’m Alive” and “Front Page Story”, both Top 5 singles. In 1989, Diamond had his final Top 10 hit, with “The Best Years Of Our Lives”. In 1992, Diamond had his final charting single, with “Hooked On The Memory Of You”, a duet with Kim Carnes.
Although still able to make music, Diamond announced in 2018 that he was retiring from performing due to having Parkinson’s disease.
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