Sweet Caroline

Neil Diamond has revealed that Caroline Kennedy was the inspiration for this song. He recently performed it for her 50th birthday party. And he says the Red Sox are his favorite team . . .

Is Neil Diamond cool again?

Sweet Caroline is one of those songs everyone has known forever but when did it gain such a cult following at sporting events? Even NPR has investigated this phenomenon. The Red Sox play it in the middle of the 8th inning, with the fans loudly chiming in for the chorus with "so good, so good, so good." It is surprising that Neil himself hasn't been coaxed to Fenway to perform it live. Admittedly, I don't know if he was ever cool previously, although I know the song was a big hit in the late 60s.

My friend Scott's band Jobu often plays it as well. The Jobu groupies chime in with x-rated lyrics but at least they have stopped flashing the band and spectators. I called Scott from Fenway when I was there on Saturday while the crowd was singing and held up my cell phone so he could experience it. He came with me to a game at Fenway in 2002 (and protected me from angry Yankees fans while I was in law school, which was a full time job) but has stayed loyal to the Mets despite being exposed to the true faith...