‘Sweet Caroline’ is a song written and performed by American singer Neil Diamond and released in May 1969 as a single with the title ‘Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)’. It was arranged by Charles Calello, and recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. 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 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.
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, 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 as a young child on a horse with her parents 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, but he needed a three-syllable name to fit the melody.
Even though the song has nothing to do with Boston, the Red Sox, baseball or New England, it is played at Red Sox home games in Fenway Park before the Red Sox bat in the 8th inning. Amy Tobey, who worked the music at Fenway, first started playing the song in 1997 - it's often reported that she played it in honor of a Red Sox employee who named her newborn daughter "Caroline," but Tobey told NPR that she simply liked the song. It caught on with the fans, becoming a popular selection between innings. When Charles Steinberg took over as Red Sox executive vice president of public affairs in 2002, he championed the song, and instituted it as an 8th inning ritual (strategically placed before the Sox come up to bat late in the game), where it has been played ever since.
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.
Labels – Uni/MCA
Songwriter – Neil Diamond
Producers – Tommy Cogbill, Neil Diamond, Tom Catalano
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Where it began
I can't begin to know when
But then I know it's growin' strong
Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who'd have believed you'd come along?
[Pre-Chorus]
Hands, touchin' hands
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you
[Chorus]
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I…
[Verse 2]
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 holdin' you?
[Pre-Chorus]
One, touchin' one
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you
[Chorus]
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh no, no
[Instrumental Break]
[Outro]
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
Sweet Caroline
I believe they never could
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good