“Sweet Caroline” is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. It was later released on December 9, 1972 as a part of Diamond’s Hot August Night album. There are three distinct mixes of this song. The original mono 45 mix had a loud orchestra and glockenspiel compared to 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 His 12 Greatest Hits. This version has the orchestra mixed down very noticeably and has the background vocals mixed up. It has a longer fade as well. The song reached #4 on the Billboard chart and eventually went platinum for sales of one million singles.
In the autumn of 1969, Diamond performed “Sweet Caroline” on several television shows. It later reached #8 on the UK singles chart in 1971. In a 2007 interview, Diamond revealed the inspiration for “Sweet Caroline” was President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, who was eleven years old at the time. Diamond sang the song to her at her 50th birthday celebration in 2007.
As of July 2011, the song has sold 1,377,000 digital downloads.
On December 21st, 2011 in an interview on the CBS Early Show, Diamond attributed the name Caroline to Caroline Kennedy. He said that a magazine cover photo of her as a young child on a horse with her parents in the background created an image in his mind, and that the rest of the song came together about five years after seeing the picture.
“Sweet Caroline” is popular at sporting events. Boston’s Fenway Park has played the song since at least 1997, and it has been played at every game in the middle of the eighth inning since 2002 by the influence of Amy Tobey, a production agent responsible for the audio played over the park’s loudspeakers. “She had noticed ‘Sweet Caroline’ was used at other sporting events, and she decided to send the sweetness over the Fenway speakers.” On opening night of the 2010 season at Fenway Park, the song was performed (albeit abridged) by Diamond himself. It is also played at sporting events at the University of Pittsburgh. The song is also played during television timeouts of Davidson College men’s basketball games and gained national attention during the school’s 2008 run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
By Neil Diamond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9hZOg1pFZM
Lyrics
Where it began I can’t begin to knowin’ But then I know it’s growing strong Was in the spring And spring became the summer Who’d have believed you’d come along
Hands, touchin’ hands Reachin’ out Touchin’ me Touchin’ you
Sweet Caroline Good times never seemed so good I’ve been inclined To believe they never would
But now I Look at the night And it don’t seem so lonely We fill it up with only two
And when I hurt Hurtin’ runs off my shoulders How can I hurt when I’m with you
Warm, touchin’ warm Reachin’ out Touchin’ me Touchin’ you
Sweet Caroline Good times never seemed so good I’ve been inclined To believe they never would Oh, no, no
Sweet Caroline Good times never seemed so good I’ve been inclined To believe they never would Sweet Caroline