Transcript of Delilah's, Neil's and Holly's
Talk on 12/01/03 (aired 12/11/03 on K*Majic):
DELILAH: Hi, is this Holly?
HOLLY: Yes, Delilah it sure is.
DELILAH: Welcome aboard; I’m glad you’re here with us tonight.
HOLLY: Well thank you – God Bless you, you are such a dream.
DELILAH: Well thank you. You know that Neil is going to be co-hosting a show with me, right?
HOLLY: Oh my God.
DELILAH: You wrote to us and you shared a sweet story; a sad story, but kind of a sweet story of when you went through a really tough time in life.
HOLLY: Yes, actually, uh, and I’m not ashamed of this any more; I finally after many years have come to grips with the fact that I am bipolar and I have many ups and downs in life. And it’s hard for me to handle the ups and downs. I’m getting much better at it.
DELILAH: And you were having a down time?
HOLLY: Oh, yes.
DELILAH: And depressed?
HOLLY: Very.
DELILAH: Had lost a job?
HOLLY: And they let me go because I wasn’t dignified enough for their office. They said I laughed too loudly.
DELILAH: Wow, I would have gotten fired a lot if that were the case.
HOLLY: (Chuckles in reply!)
DELILAH: You know I laugh so loud, Holly, that when I go to movie theaters – funny movies – people get up and move?
HOLLY: Uh-oh!
DELILAH: Now I just rent them and bring them home. That way I can laugh as loud as I want and nobody gives a damn; but people move in theaters when I laugh.
HOLLY: Well, hey, I’m sorry. (Giggles a bit.)
DELILAH: So you lost your job; you weren’t dignified enough; you were too loud; you were so depressed, you decided you just didn’t want to carry on.
HOLLY: That’s right. And at the time, I was an atheist. I did not believe that there was a Lord out there who loved me.
DELILAH: And what happened to change that?
HOLLY: Well – I drove down a country road with many, uh, barbiturates, and I was going to take them all. And I wrote a note, and, you know, basically said, you know, ‘The world doesn’t want me; I’m not good enough. (Soft piano music begins to play) And therefore I’m going to end my life. And I poured them out in my hand and I had my eight-track of Neil’s, uh, “Stones” uh, eight-track with me, and, for some reason, um, something much bigger than me told me to stick that in my player.
And, it just so happens that the track that “’I AM,’” I SAID” was on, and he started singing it, and I started crying, and really, I mean deep, really crying – pounding the steering wheel, and all of a sudden, I realized, “What on earth are you doing? Neil surely has felt this way, and he’s alive singing about it, so it would be pretty stupid for you to end your life. And, remember what Jesus said,” you know, because I had read some Scripture – He said, “You know before Moses was, I AM.”
And all of a sudden I realized, “God is here! There IS a God.” And I threw the pills out and drove home.
DELILAH: And, has life gotten better?
HOLLY: Very much so. Very much so. I have a lovely home; I have a lovely job; I am really working at finding happiness, and it’s – I’m basically a very happy person.
DELILAH: So, do you think that had you not popped that tape in at that time; had you not heard that song, things might have turned out differently?
HOLLY: I probably would have taken the pills.
DELILAH: That wouldn’t have been a good thing.
HOLLY: No.
NEIL: That would have been a terrible thing, Holly. Hello?
HOLLY: Oh my God (giggles …)
NEIL: Hi, darling, this is Neil and I’m sorry, I just overheard what you said.
That’s a beautiful story. You know, I can’t tell you because I was kinda down when I wrote that song myself, and uh, it meant a lot to me too, and it’s so nice to hear that it had an effect on you and that you didn’t let yourself get down and you pulled yourself out of it and it’s a beautiful thing. And I think the world is a better place because you’re around…
HOLLY: Oh thank you.
NEIL: And you do have a great laugh (Holly giggles) and we need that; we really need that.
So, you know, you’ve done me great honor by telling that story and, uh, and I love you for it. Just to know that you’re not alone. There are lots of people out there, myself included, who’ve gone through really difficult times, and for some reason, they’ve been able to pull themselves out of it.
And, uh, we all know that there’s something bigger than we are out there and, and uh, He pulls the strings, and uh, He sure pulled the right strings that day, and uh …
HOLLY: Yes, He did.
NEIL: And I’m happy to hear you tell that story.
HOLLY: Well, I’ll tell you what, Neil, I never, ever thought that I could ever talk to you and I’ve made a royal pain in my butt about trying to reach you. This is all I’ve ever wanted is to just thank you!
NEIL: WOW! Well, you’ve done it.
DELILAH: So Merry Christmas early, Holly!
HOLLY: Oh my goodness, I don’t know what to do!
NEIL: Well, you keep laughing, and just hearing your story is beautiful. Like I say, it’s gonna make my Christmas this year. And God bless you.
{Delilah plays Neil singing “Oh Holy Night.”}
Text Part 2:
DELILAH: With me, uh, co-hosting tonight is Neil Diamond. Neil, thank you for agreeing to be here with us.
NEIL: Oh, I love it. I love this music, and, I want to pick some songs to play – some of them.
DELILAH: When you’re singing, when you’re performing, when you’re recording, you have no clue who it’s going to touch or how it’s going to touch once it’s out there.
NEIL: You know, that’s so true. You only hope that it goes out and does something nice to somebody, but you never do know. And every once in a while, you hear a story like the one that Holly just told and you realize that hey maybe, maybe you do have a purpose and that there’s a reason that you’re around and when you’re getting down, maybe you shouldn’t be getting down. It’s all valuable and it plays a part in this whole crazy scheme of things. So …
DELILAH: Or, even like she said, when you do get down, the fact that you were honest about it; the fact that from your depression or your sad situation, you were able to write that song and able to share that song, which is such an empowering song of faith for me and a multitude of other people …
NEIL: Hmm …
DELILAH: You know, had you just, had you taken that down time, or that sad time, or that tough time – whatever it was that you were going through, Neil, and then said, “You know, I don’t want to focus on that; I don’t want to talk about it; I don’t want to sing about it; I don’t want to – I just want to move on.
NEIL: Yeah, uh – You’re absolutely right. You know, you just never know the good things that you do and they just seem to go out there and they create ripples, and uh. You never do know when you’re doing something that it’s going to be to some good cause, and then you hear the story like this one and it makes it all very clear once again …
DELILAH: Christmas with Neil Diamond. We’ll be back to talk with Neil coming up in just a moment.
