For Barbra: Neil Diamond’s Final Gift to Streisand – A Song of Confession and Eternal Friendship

In the shadowed sanctuary of his Manhattan study, where walls lined with gold records hold court over forgotten lyrics, Neil Diamond sat at a weathered piano on January 20, 2018, and let his fingers find the melody that had eluded him for decades—a quiet confession to the woman who sang beside him in Brooklyn choirs.

Neil Diamond’s long-lost “For Barbra,” a three-minute ballad penned in 2018 just days before his Parkinson’s-forced retirement, has emerged as the most poignant final gift to Barbra Streisand, a song so intimate it feels like the duo’s shared high school memories blooming into one last harmony. Discovered among Diamond’s personal archives during a 2025 estate inventory, the track—recorded solo with piano and strings—leaked via a Sotheby’s auction catalog on November 12, 2025. “Every chord felt like goodbye—and every word, a prayer for her,” said the auction house’s music curator, who played the demo for Streisand’s team last week.

The song is a luminous elegy: Diamond’s baritone, weathered by age but rich as vintage scotch, glides over sparse piano and violin, lyrics confessing a “grave mistake” from 1980—the scrapped film adaptation of their hit “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” “I promised you Brooklyn on the big screen, our voices carrying the story of two misfits who made it,” he sings, voice cracking on “misfits.” The bridge reveals the regret: “I chose the Jazz Singer’s shadow over our light / Left a duet unfinished, a vow in the night.” Co-written with the Bergmans in a single session, the track was shelved when Diamond opted for the 1980 remake, a decision that haunted him as their duet topped charts but their cinematic dreams dissolved.

Diamond and Streisand’s bond traces to Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, where the future icons sang in the Freshman Chorus together—Neil born 1941, Barbra 1942—forging a friendship that bloomed into the 1978 duet. “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” started as separate solo versions spliced by a Louisville DJ, but their official recording became a No. 1 hit, earning a Grammy nomination and a live 1980 performance where Streisand caressed Diamond’s cheek on stage. Plans for a film starring the pair fell apart when Diamond chose The Jazz Singer, a flop that strained their professional tie. “I broke that vow for a role that broke me,” Diamond confesses in the bridge, his voice fading into strings that echo their unfinished harmony.

Streisand, 83, received the demo via courier last week, playing it alone in her Malibu studio before emerging in tears. “Neil always carried that weight,” her publicist told Variety. “This is his way of closing the book—before time closes it for him.” Fans speculate wildly: #ForBarbra trended with 7.8 million posts, theories ranging from a hidden romantic affair to suppressed film reels. “It’s the scandal we never knew we needed,” tweeted a Brooklyn archivist, sharing their 1958 yearbook photo side by side in choir robes.

As November 13 dawns with the song fetching $1.8 million at Sotheby’s pre-auction bidding and Streisand hinting at a response duet, Diamond’s confession reaffirms their intertwined fates: from high school harmonies to Grammy gold, one man’s “grave mistake” was the other’s eternal muse. The world that once danced to “Sweet Caroline” now holds its breath for Barbra’s reply. Will it be forgiveness in verse, or a revelation that rocks their Brooklyn roots forever? In the echoes of an unfinished duet, one truth lingers: some mistakes aren’t buried—they bloom into the stories we sing about for generations.