Sweet Caroline - Wikipedia

1969 single by Neil Diamond
not to be confused with Sweet Georgia Brown
1969 single by Neil Diamond

“ 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, [ 2 ] and recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee .

divine guidance [edit ]

In a 2007 interview, Diamond stated the inspiration for his song was John F. Kennedy ‘s daughter, Caroline, who was eleven years honest-to-god at the time it was released. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Diamond sang the song for her at her fiftieth birthday celebration in 2007. [ 5 ] On December 21, 2011, in an interview on CBS ‘s The Early Show, Diamond said that a magazine cover photograph of Caroline as a young child on a horse [ 6 ] with her parents created an trope in his mind, and the rest of the song came together about five years after seeing the picture. [ 7 ] however, in 2014 Diamond said the song was about his then-wife Marsha, but he needed a three-syllable identify to fit the melody. [ 7 ] The song has proven to be enduringly popular and, as of November 2014, has sold over two million digital downloads in the United States. [ 8 ]

performance [edit ]

The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the workweek ending August 16, 1969, [ 9 ] and was certified gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1969, for sales of one million singles. [ 10 ] “ Sweet Caroline ” was besides the first of fifty-eight entries on the US Easy Listening chart, peaking at # 3. [ 11 ] In the fall 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 publish, following its manipulation by England supporters during euro 2020. It re-entered the chart at No. 48 on the workweek ending 15 July and a week former it rose to No. 20. [ 12 ]

reception [edit ]

Cash Box called the sung “ 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 gleam throughout with casual surges of potency. ” [ 13 ]

Chart history [edit ]

Certifications [edit ]


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] since 2004	Platinum	600,000
United States (RIAA)[28]	Platinum	1,000,000^
United States digital sales	—	2,456,102[29]
^ Shipments figures based on certificate alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certificate alone .

alternate versions [edit ]

There are three distinct mixes of this song. In the original infectious mononucleosis 45 mix, the orchestra and glockenspiel are more outstanding 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 acquittance of Diamond ‘s His 12 Greatest Hits. [ 30 ] This adaptation has the orchestra mixed down and has the background vocals mixed up. It has a long languish angstrom well. A exist version of the birdcall is on his Hot August Night LP. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Diamond changed some of the lyrics to “ Hands … washing hands … do n’t touch me … I wo n’t touch you. ” [ 31 ]

Use at sporting events [edit ]

United States [edit ]

The National Football League ‘s Carolina Panthers have played the song at all home games in Charlotte since 1996. [ citation needed ] 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. [ citation needed ] The song has been played at Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball ‘s Boston Red Sox, since at least 1997, [ 32 ] and in the center of the one-eighth inning at every plot since 2002. [ 33 ] On opening night of the 2010 season at Fenway Park, the birdcall was performed live by Diamond himself. [ 34 ] The Iowa State Cyclones have used “ sweet Caroline ” as a football victory song since 2006. [ 35 ] Since 2008, the University of Pittsburgh has used “ dessert Caroline ” as an unofficial school sing-along song by inserting “ Let ‘s Go Pitt ! ” over the instrumental three-beat “ Woah oh ohio ” [ 36 ] time interval after the title abstain and replacing the repeat phrase “ thus dependable ” with “ Go Pitt ! ” [ 37 ] [ 38 ] [ 39 ] The song started as a rallying anthem played between the third and fourthly quarters of Pittsburgh Panthers football games, [ 40 ] [ 41 ] but has been adopted for manipulation during early university sports contests, alumnus events, and student ceremonies, including gradation commencement ceremonies, [ 42 ] [ 43 ] and references to the song have appeared on diverse school merchandise. [ 44 ] “ gratifying Caroline ” is sometimes partially of the regular rotation of songs during sports events at other universities, and although noted angstrom not as being a custom particular to or uniquely associated with Pennsylvania State University, [ 45 ] out of a speculate 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. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] however, performances resumed to loud renditions at Penn State football games in September 2013. [ 45 ] several days after the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, Neil Diamond led the push at Fenway Park in a rendition of the song. [ 48 ] Sales of the song surged closely 600 percentage in the week after the bombings, to 19,000 copies, up from 2,800 the workweek earlier. [ 49 ] 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. [ 50 ]

On February 22, 2020, newly crowned WBC and The Ring heavyweight universe champion Tyson Fury sang the birdcall live in the resound at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to celebrate his hard victory against Deontay Wilder following the decision of their replay. [ 51 ] Fury had besides previously sang “ sweetly Caroline ” at a compress conference ahead of his fight against Francesco Pianeta in 2018. [ 52 ]

Canada [edit ]

The song is used at the Ontario Hockey League ‘s Erie Otters home games, where fans replace the “ idler, bum, bum ” with “ London sucks ! ” in reference to the equal London Knights. [ 53 ]

United Kingdom [edit ]

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. It has however been a winnow favorite at Windsor Park for 20 years. [ 54 ] The song has been used at home games ever since, most notably during UEFA Euro 2016. [ 55 ] Northern Irish darts player Daryl Gurney began using the sung as his walk-on song in 2015 for Professional Darts Corporation events, in tribute to the football team. [ 56 ] On June 29, 2021, at the Round of 16 of the UEFA Euro 2020 championships, after the England national football team won 2–0 against Germany, England supporters amongst the 40,000 spectators who were present at Wembley Stadium remained and jointly sang the song after the match. The team director, 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 ca n’t beat a bit of ‘Sweet Caroline ‘, can you ? That ‘s a belter, very. ” [ 57 ] During post-match interviews, the team captain, Harry Kane, was visibly moved as he paused to listen to the sing herd, comment : “ Yeah, it ‘s particular. I ‘m speechless, I do n’t know what to say. ” [ 58 ] After their 2–1 semi-final win against Denmark, the England players led the push through a interpretation of the song. [ 59 ] Reading started using the song as requested by the players in their first ever temper in the Premiership for the 2006/07 season. According to former player Glenn Little, this was selected as region 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 favored. [ 60 ] The song was late adopted by supporters of Aston Villa during their backing plot 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 streak, which enabled them to reach the 2019 English Football League play-offs. subsequently, they continued to sing the song after they memorably won a pivotal penalty gunfight at their cross-city rivals West Bromwich Albion, before finally winning the play-offs and winning promotion to the Premier League for the 2019–20 season. [ 61 ] The club players had later continued their hard affiliation with the birdcall, and sang the birdcall within their dressing room, after a pivotal draw at their final examination match of the temper, to narrowly escape relegation from the Premier League by merely one point. [ 62 ] For cricket in England, the home herd at Lord ‘s, along with the players of the England cricket team, sang the birdcall after their dramatic limit count winnings at the Final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. [ 63 ] On November 15, 2021, the swiss home football team sang the sung after a 4-0 winnings against Bulgaria in honor to the Northern Ireland national football team, who drew against the italian national football team, thus permitting the swiss to qualify immediately to the 2022 FIFA World Cup .

mix Martial Arts [edit ]

UFC middleweight fighter Darren Till has adopted the song as his entrance music beginning at UFC Fight Night : Thompson vs. Till. [ 64 ]

Personnel [edit ]

bequest [edit ]

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 ”. [ 65 ]

DJ Ötzi adaptation [edit ]

austrian singer DJ Ötzi released a version of the song in 2009 through UMG. His adaptation reached number 19 on the german Singles Chart, staying for 18 weeks in the german charts. It besides peaked at number 18 on the austrian charts. [ 66 ] The sung was besides included in the Hotel Engel (Gold Edition) .

Track list [edit ]

CD-Single

“Sweet Caroline” (Single Version) – 3:37
“Sweet Caroline” (DJ Mix) – 3:46

2009 Limited Edition – CD-Single

“Sweet Caroline” (Single Version) – 3:37
Exclusives Bonus Video (Gerry Friedle: Mein Leben mit DJ Ötzi) – 19:04

2010 CD-Single

“Sweet Caroline” (Single Version) – 3:37
“Sweet Caroline” (EURO 2010 Magic Moments Version) – 3:46

Sweet Caroline – Wikipedia