Brang? Brang? What's brang?

Many people will agree with me that Hot August Night is a mighty fine album. Neil Diamond performing live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles way back in 1972. At first, I was hesitant to buy this album in the 1970s but after giving it a spin or two, was I glad that I did. The songs in this double album were among the best that you'd ever hear from him. They evoked a lot of memories and took me through a wide range of moods: from happiness to sadness. But at the end of the day, they gave me pure listening pleasure.


The only blemish was that as a songwriter, Diamond occasionally took liberties with the language. Nothing stood out more than in Play Me in which he wrote and sang:

Song she sang to me
Song she brang to me
Words that rang in me
Rhyme that sprang from me

Brang? What sort of a word is that? Okay, he was trying to find a word that rhymed with sang, rang and sprang, but ... brang? Brang, brang, brang, brang, brang? Now I know. If ever I'm stymied myself, I'll just use him as a role model and come out with my own words like...drang, mlang, qang, zang... I marvel at the possibilities. Thank you, Neil Diamond, for the inspiration.