Sweet Caroline

Inspiration

Neil Diamond has provided different explanations for the song's origins. In a 2007 interview, he stated the inspiration for the song was John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline Kennedy, who was 11 years old at the time it was released. Diamond sang the song for her at her 50th birthday celebration in 2007. On December 21, 2011, in an interview on CBS's The Early Show, Diamond said that a magazine cover photo of Caroline Kennedy as a young child on a horse with her parents John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy created an image in his mind, and the rest of the song came together about five years after seeing the picture. However, in 2014, Diamond said the song was about his then-wife Marcia Murphey, but he needed a three-syllable name to fit the melody.

Performance

The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the week ending August 16, 1969, and was certified gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1969, for sales of one million singles. "Sweet Caroline" was also the first of Diamond's 58 entries on the US Easy Listening chart, peaking at No. 3.

In the autumn of 1969, Diamond performed "Sweet Caroline" on several television shows. It later reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1971.

In July 2021, "Sweet Caroline" re-entered the UK Singles Chart again 50 years after its first UK release, following its use by England supporters during Euro 2020. It re-entered the chart at No. 48 on the week ending July 15 and a week later it rose to No. 20.

Critical reception

Cash Box called the song "sensational", highlighting the fact that Diamond's "material and production sound take on a completely different dimension in this love ballad which maintains a warm glow throughout with occasional surges of strength". Record World said that "Neil Diamond stirs rich excitement with this voluptuous new 'Sweet Caroline'." Billboard called it a "hard hitting love ballad" with "exceptional production and vocal workout". The song has proven to be enduringly popular and, as of November 2014, has sold over two million digital downloads in the United States.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Alternative versions

There are three distinct mixes of this song. In the original mono 45 mix, the orchestra and glockenspiel are more prominent than in the stereo version on the Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show LP. The third version was a remix found only on the initial CD release of Diamond's 1974 compilation His 12 Greatest Hits. This version has the orchestra mixed down and has the background vocals mixed up. It has a longer fade as well. A live version of the song is on his 1972 Hot August Night LP.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Diamond changed some of the lyrics to "Hands ... washing hands ... don't touch me ... I won't touch you."

Use at sporting events

United States

The National Football League's Carolina Panthers have played the song as a victory song at all home games since 1996. In 2020, the Panthers played the song to an empty Bank of America Stadium in honor of all front-line workers in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The song has been played at Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, since at least 1997 and in the middle of the eighth inning at every game since 2002. On opening night of the 2010 season at Fenway Park, the song was performed live by Diamond himself. Several days after the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, Neil Diamond led the crowd at Fenway Park in a rendition of the song. The New York Yankees, the longtime rivals, showed their support for the city by playing the song over Yankee Stadium's loudspeakers the day after the incident. Sales of the song surged nearly 600 percent in the week after the bombings, to 19,000 copies, up from 2,800 the week before. Diamond said that he would donate his royalties from those sales to the One Fund Boston charity to help the people affected by the bombings.

The Iowa State Cyclones have used "Sweet Caroline" as a football victory song since 2006.

Since 2008, the University of Pittsburgh has used "Sweet Caroline" as an unofficial school sing-along song by inserting "Let's Go Pitt!" over the instrumental three-beat "Ba Ba Ba" interval after the title refrain and replacing the repeated phrase (often added by fans, although not in the original recording) "So good" with "Go Pitt!" The song started as a rallying anthem played between the third and fourth quarters of Pittsburgh Panthers football games, but has been adopted for use during other university sports contests, alumni events, and student ceremonies, including graduation commencement ceremonies, and references to the song have appeared on various school merchandise. However, Pitt's arch-rival, West Virginia University, "adapts" the song for their own purposes to troll Pitt, even when Pitt is not the opponent.

"Sweet Caroline" is sometimes part of the regular rotation of songs during sports events at other universities, including the University of North Carolina. Out of a speculated concern with the song's lyrics in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal, the university removed the song from the rotation of music played at football games prior to the 2012 season. However, performances resumed to loud renditions at Penn State football games in September 2013.

On February 22, 2020, newly crowned WBC and The Ring heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury sang the song live in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to celebrate his knockout victory against Deontay Wilder following the conclusion of their rematch. Fury had also previously sung "Sweet Caroline" at a press conference ahead of his fight against Francesco Pianeta in 2018.

Canada

The song is used at the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters home games, where fans replace the "bum, bum, bum" with "London sucks!" in reference to the rival London Knights. The National Hockey League Vancouver Canucks regularly play this song at Rogers Arena, their home rink, during 3rd-period stoppages in play to energize the home crowd.

United Kingdom

Fans of the Northern Ireland national football team adopted the song as an anthem after it was played in the post-match stadium celebrations after defeating England in 2005. The song has been used at home games ever since. Northern Irish darts player Daryl Gurney began using the song as his walk-on song in 2015 for Professional Darts Corporation events, in tribute to the football team.

On June 29, 2021, at the round of 16 of the UEFA Euro 2020, after the England national football team won 2–0 against Germany, England supporters who were present at Wembley Stadium remained and sang the song after the match. The team manager, Gareth Southgate, remarked "So, to be able to send them home feeling as they do tonight, to hear them at the end ... I mean, you can't beat a bit of 'Sweet Caroline', can you? That's a belter, really." During post-match interviews, the team captain, Harry Kane, was visibly moved as he paused to listen to the singing crowd, remarking: "Yeah, it's special. I'm speechless, I don't know what to say." After their 2–1 semi-final win against Denmark, the England players led the crowd through a rendition of the song.

The song was subsequently adopted by the England women's football team on their run to victory in Euro 2022, being played in the stadiums after each game as England won; Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning goal in the final, was being interviewed pitch side after the win but ran off with the microphone when the song started playing to sing along with the team.

Reading started using the song as requested by the players in their first season in the Premiership for the 2006/07 season. According to former player Glenn Little, this was selected as part of a celebration of their record-winning 106-point Championship season. However, it was not until 2015, when Little suggested it should be re-established, that it became a fan favourite. The song was later adopted by supporters of Aston Villa during their Championship game against Stoke City in February 2019, as they battled from an early deficit to obtain a draw. After the game, Aston Villa had 12-game unbeaten run, which enabled them to reach the 2019 English Football League play-offs. Subsequently, they continued to sing the song after they won a pivotal penalty shootout at their cross-city rivals West Bromwich Albion, before eventually winning the play-offs and winning promotion to the Premier League for the 2019–20 season. The club players had later continued their strong association with the song, and sang the song within their dressing room, after a pivotal draw at their final match of the season, to narrowly escape relegation from the Premier League by only one point.

For cricket in England, the home crowd at Lord's, along with the players of the England cricket team, sang the song after their boundary count win at the Final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. It is regularly played at most matches during intervals or short pauses for crowd engagement.

The song was played in Arthur Ashe Stadium after British tennis player Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open Women's singles final.

On November 15, 2021, the Swiss national football team sang the song after a 4–0 win against Bulgaria in honor to the Northern Ireland national football team, who drew against the Italy national football team, thus permitting the Swiss to qualify directly to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The song is also played before the main event of Matchroom Sports boxing cards in the UK and sometimes overseas.

Mexico

The song is also played at the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna stadium whenever the team wins a match, considered as a victory song for the locals. Remixes of the song are also played there at important events, accompanied by fireworks.

Switzerland

The song was played at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland when the final of UEFA Women's Euro 2025 was concluded with a victory for the English side against Spain.{{cite news | trans-title = ‘England won Gold in European Championships’

Mixed martial arts

UFC middleweight fighter Darren Till has adopted the song as his entrance music beginning at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till.

Personnel

• Neil Diamond – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Charles Calello – string, horn and vocal arrangements
• The Memphis Boys – other instrumentation
  • Gene Chrisman – drums
  • Tommy Cogbill – bass guitar
  • Bobby Emmons – keyboards
  • Reggie Young – electric guitar

Legacy

In 2019, "Sweet Caroline" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2020 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

DJ Ötzi version

Austrian singer DJ Ötzi released a version of the song in 2009 through UMG. His version reached number 19 on the German singles chart, staying for 18 weeks in the German charts. It also peaked at number 18 on the Austrian charts. The song was also included on his album Hotel Engel (Gold Edition).

Track listings

;CD single

1. "Sweet Caroline" (single version) - 3:37
2. "Sweet Caroline" (DJ mix) - 3:46

;2009 Limited Edition CD single

1. "Sweet Caroline" (single version) - 3:37
2. Exclusive Bonus Video (Gerry Friedle: Mein Leben mit DJ Ötzi) - 19:04

;2010 CD single

1. "Sweet Caroline" (single version) - 3:37
2. "Sweet Caroline" (Euro 2010 Magic Moments version) - 3:46

Charts

Other versions

In 2001, a version by Dustin the Turkey for the compilation Dustin's Greatest Hits reached No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart, the character's sixth Irish number one.

References

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