Neil Diamond told UK DJ Ken Evans in 1972: "Morningside is a very sad song. It’s a song of dying alone, something that I’ve been aware of for a long time. I was struck by it when my grandparents passed away - that they did die alone - that they weren’t with their children when they died. And a year and a half ago when I was in London for the first time, I passed a shop and saw this beautiful table in the window. It was carved by hand and for some reason the two things came together and the song started then."