Album: Classics: The Early Years (1967)

Charted: 24

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• Young child with dreams
  Dream each dream on your own
  When children play
  Seems like you end up alone
  Papa says he'd love to be with you
  If he had the time
  So you turn to the only friend you can find
  There in your mind
  Shilo when I was young I used to call your name
  When no one else would come
  Shilo you always came and we'd play
  Counting the years
  Keepin my dreams to myself
  Till a young girl with fire
  Made me trust somebody else
  Held my hand out and I let her take me
  Blind as a child
  All I saw was the way that she made me smile
  She made me smile
  Shilo when I was young I used to call your name
  When no one else would come
  Shilo you always came but you'd stay
  Had a dream and it filled me with wonder
  She had other plans got to go said
  She'd know that I'd understand I understand
  Shilo when I was young I used to call your name
  When no one else would come
  Shilo you always came come today Writer/s: Neil Diamond
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 13

• Shilo from OhioWhere did Neil Diamond come up with the name Shilo? And significance to spelling it without an "h" on the end.
• Don Nelson from Groton CtFor me Shilo is first an imaginary playmate for a lonely boy, then a young woman that shows the singer what love is. He's smitten, wants to spend his life with her but she has other plans. His love for her is such that her happiness is more important to him than his own so he lets her go. Now he longs for that imaginary friend again or another lady 'Shilo' to bring his life to fruition, to be his other half.
• Charles from Brooklyn, New York I'm from Brooklyn New York the same borough as Neil Diamond. This is a song about a lonely boy and his imaginary friend. Neil's record labels should have given this song much more attention. This is truly a great song, that deserved more exposure at the time.
• Jason from Chicago It's about a dog right?
  
• Maga from TexasI thought it was about the grandfather who never let him down when Neil was young and his granddad was still alive.
• Ok from UsI thought it was about a dog when i heard it
• Helen Weaver from Westerville Oh He is my ALL TIME FAVORITE!
• Tru Lacroux from AmericaWhy does it seem like this is the story of a friend from childhood why the MRI vision of what looks like an astrocytoma tumor.? Why does it seem like he lost his friend this friend to a tumor. His wedding suit a disappointment in the eyes someone who couldn’t keep her promise someone who gave up to death? Maybe bc my son died of a astrocytoma brain tumor and I lost friends and family bc they couldn’t handle the emotions and toll it took on me. They left. I got sick, recovered, then got 2 brain tumors, now alone I am introspective. Maybe to the point of being unable to see beyond my pain and obsession with why, why, why him? I have loved this song sense I was a child. It is only now watching this video that the pieces make a story of my life. The I’d very strongly suggest I read a book.
• Bd from UsaWhile researching something else, this song by Neil Diamond came to mind so I looked up the lyrics... As to why the name Shilo when he was young, maybe he was a good Jewish boy crying to Messiah: "The precise meaning of “Shiloh” is challenging. It is either a reference to a place, as it is elsewhere in the Old Testament (e.g. Joshua 18:1,8,9; 19;51; I Samuel 1:13, etc.), or, it may refer to q proper name for the Messiah. This is seen in the Talmud in Sanhedrian 98b which answers the question of what the Messiah’s name is by saying, “Shiloh is his name, as it is said, “Until Shiloh Come.” In Judaism, Names describe the nature of the Messiah’s mission."
• Jennifur Sun from RamonaWish I could tell Neil thanks for this song, it's like he knew me when he wrote it.
• Jodi from Northampton, PaI had always thought that Shilo was a dog.
• Ekristheh from Halath, United StatesI am curious as to why the final refrain of the song (with "Come today") is left off most recordings I have heard. Instead there's a rapid fadeout on the first two lines. Is it controversial?
• Fred from Laurel, MdI always liked this song since it hit top-40 radio back in '67; it has more of a calm, friendly appeal that has staying power, than a smash-hit-today-and totally-over-it-tomorrow sort of quality. I always wondered about the name, though. I knew there was a famous American Civil War battle in southwestern Tennessee at Shiloh (note the extra "h"), which I used to think was an American Indian-derived name for the place, but later found out it's from the Old Testament (the battle was named after a nearby church). Looking that up on Wikipedia has yielded some enticing stuff, but hasn't quite yet led me to any concrete connection with this song; maybe others can come up with some. Maybe Mr. Wild of Songfact #2 up here can tell us whether there is any such connection. It just seems a bit of an odd name to draw from a hat, so it doesn't seem likely to be a coincidence. The biblical Shiloh was a gathering place for all the tribes of Israel, and home to the Ark of the Covenant for several centuries. Gathering? Place of coming together? With your buds, your pals, your compatriots, perhaps soulmates? Hmmm.

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