Sweet Caroline
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sweet Caroline is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and released in 1969 as a single,and was also included on later pressings of his "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" album. The song reached #4 on the Billboard chart and eventually went platinum for sales of one million singles.[1]
In the fall of 1969, Diamond performed "Sweet Caroline" on several television shows, including The Joey Bishop Show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and The Ed Sullivan Show.It has since become Diamond's signature song.
[edit] Sports
Its two-line chorus is a crowd sing-along favorite at international soccer matches and by fans of the New York Jets of the National Football League, the Northern Ireland international football team, Reading FC of the English Premier League, the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, and Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Washington Nationals. Among colleges, the Marching Tar Heels, marching band for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plays the musical accompaniment to Sweet Caroline as students and alumni alike shout along with the lyrics in both football games in Kenan Stadium and basketball games in the Dean E Smith Center, better known as the Dean Dome. Also, the Boston College Marching Eagles play it during the 2nd half of home football games at Alumni Stadium. In the student section, over 9,000 generally inebriated undergrads sing along heartily, clad in their yellow, superfan t-shirts. The fans of the Boston University Terrier Hockey Team, also sing this song usually during the third period. At St. Lawrence University, the song is played during the second intermission of every home hockey game. At Bowling Green State University it is played at the first intermission of every home hockey game to the enjoyment of the student section. The Washington Nationals fans sing this song when the starting pitcher from the other team is relieved.
In the late 1990s, the song became very popular among Red Sox fans, and the Farrelly Brothers appropriated it in their 2005 film Fever Pitch starring Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. Fever Pitch recounts the season leading up to the Red Sox victory in the 2004 World Series. Amy Tobey, the person responsible for deciding what music would be played at Fenway Park from 1998 to 2004, liked fan reaction to the song and started the tradition. In 2002, under new management, the song became a standard part of the eighth inning. The song is also an eighth inning standard at home games for many of Boston's minor league affiliates, like the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Greenville Drive. When Dave Matthews Band played at Fenway Park on July 8, 2006, they did a cover of the song as a tribute.
Sweet Caroline is gaining popularity among British football fans. In particular, the "Green And White Army", supporters of the Northern Ireland international team, have been singing it since an away match in Switzerland in August 2004, with the title adapted to the vernacular "Sweet Norn Iron". Ironically, this was at a time when the team's fortunes were never lower, but the song has coincided with a recent revival, with "Good Times" never being "So Good" as when the team beat England in Belfast in September 2005 and the fans stayed behind to belt out this anthem and others, for an hour after the game. More recently, it was adopted as an anthem for Reading Football Club at the end of its 2005-2006 Premiership promotion winning season, first being played as the players entered the stadium for their final game of the season at home to Queens Park Rangers (a match that the Royals won 2-1 to claim an English league record points total of 106). It was subsequently used during the team’s lap of honor and the next day’s Bank Holiday promotion party [1]. Its use stems from a break the Reading squad took to Marbella, Spain before the QPR match, where the song became the anthem of the trip for the players who then requested its use before the final game. The chorus of “Good times never seemed so good” was seen as apt after the club achieved promotion to the top tier of English football for the first time in its mostly unsuccessful 135-year history.
In the UK and Ireland, Sweet Caroline is a popular song at weddings.
[edit] Covers
In 1970, Anthony Armstrong took it into the Top 40 of the country charts. In 1972, Bobby Womack took it into the Top 20 of the R&B charts. A number of other artists have recorded covers, including Andy Williams, Bobby Goldsboro, Elvis Presley[2], the Ventures, Ray Conniff, Boots Randolph, Frank Sinatra, and Waylon Jennings.
In Ireland, in December 2001, a dance version by Dustin the Turkey reached Number 1 in the singles charts, his last Number 1 hit to date. It was also covered by the punk music band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their Have a Ball. 'Sweet Caroline' has also been covered by Reggae group 'Bunny Rugs & The Upsetters in 1974 on their album 'To Love Somebody'.
Dave Matthews Band performed Sweet Caroline on Saturday, July 08, 2006, during their concert in Boston's historic Fenway Park, and again on Saturday, March 24, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Jimmy Buffett also performed the song at Fenway as part of a medley with Why Don't We Get Drunk in September 2004.
Also covered by the alternative band Guster, who hail from Boston, Massachusetts.
