Sweet Caroline, Good Times Never Seemed So Good

Today’s song is the wildly popular “Sweet Caroline,” a song officially released in 1969 as a single. Lyrics are here.  It is one of those Neil Diamond songs that EVERYONE knows, even if they’ve no idea that it’s a Neil Diamond song. It’s played at Boston’s Fenway Park every seventh-inning-stretch, with the whole crowd enthusiastically singing along. Especially to the “good times never seemed so good (so good! so good! so good!)” part. As a matter of fact Neil Diamond himself sang an abridged version at Fenway Park’s 2010 opening night, much to the delight of the fans.

The song has inspired mystery, too. “Who is Caroline?” people would wonder. Well, in December 2011, Neil told a morning news show that “Caroline” was none other than Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy. He said it was inspired by a picture of the then 11 year-old Caroline with her parents, and the song just took shape from there.  For true, die-hard, hard-core, freakishly nitpicky Neil Diamond fans (such as myself,) there’s an interesting bit of trivia to be had regarding this. In his 1986 “Hello Again” television special, he was asked by fellow entertainer Stevie Wonder, “Was there a Sweet Caroline?” to which Diamond replies, “I’ll never tell.” It’s just being a dork on my part but let the record state that he did indeed tell. Not that it bothers me…I just wanted to show off my knowledge of Neil Diamond minutiae. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the song.

On its surface, it’s a sort of love song (without being overtly so) to someone named Caroline who changed the singer’s life in a very positive way. And it’s one of those “I can’t remember how long we’ve been together it’s been so long” type of relationships, hence the “where it began, I can’t begin to knowin’” lyric. It’s about someone who takes comfort in this Caroline person, someone who was sad before meeting her but now, “how can I hurt when holding you” is the phrase that best describes the situation.

Now one thing that perplexes me is this– in the second verse, does he sing “warm, touching warm” or “one, touching one?”  I forever thought it was “warm,” but now as I comb through various interpretations of the lyrics, they all say “one.” Is this mass hysteria on their part, with me being the one correct for all these years? I would like to think so. I would also like to hear what you think, too.

Incidentally, this song has been covered by everyone from Frank Sinatra (on his “Some Nice Things I’ve Missed” album”) to punk band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.  And dammit, it’s one of those songs that just makes one feel good. And if you’ve ever seen Neil Diamond in concert, you know what an amazing thing it is to hear everyone sing the “bom-bom-bom” part at the top of their voices. And if you don’t know what that part is, you must be living in the back of a closet underneath a swatch of avocado-green shag carpet. Not that that’s a bad thing.  I hear it’s making a comeback…

Till next time!