| If You Know What I Mean | |
| Cover: | If You Know What I Mean cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Neil Diamond |
| Album: | Beautiful Noise |
| B-Side: | Street Life |
| Released: | June 1976 |
| Length: | 3:41 |
| Label: | Columbia Records |
| Producer: | Robbie Robertson |
| Prev Title: | The Last Picasso |
| Prev Year: | 1975 |
| Next Title: | Don't Think... Feel |
| Next Year: | 1976 |
"If You Know What I Mean" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. It is a track from Diamond's 1976 album, Beautiful Noise, and was his third number 1 on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent two weeks. "If You Know What I Mean" went to number 1 for two nonconsecutive weeks and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] In Canada, the song reached number 19 on the pop singles chart[2] and hit number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[3]
Billboard described "If You Know What I Mean" as a "powerful ballad", stating that Diamond sings with more emotion than he had in the recent past, and also praised Robbie Robertson's production.[4] Cash Box said that the song "has a couple of diverse, yet distinct musical moods" and that "the chorus, underscored by a first class string section, builds the song up to an emotional peak."[5]
Diamond has stated that the song is a "tender recollection" of a relationship in his teens, in which he successfully seduced a significantly older woman.[6]
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 27 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles[7] | 19 |
| Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[8] | 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 16 |
| Chart (1976) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[9] | 82 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles[10] | 153 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] | 84 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] | 76 |
| US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[13] | 98 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[14] | 6 |
