Sweet Caroline

Song meaning of Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, and what it is about

Diamond has given a variety of accounts on the song's genesis. He claimed in a 2007 interview that Caroline, the 11-year-old daughter of John F. Kennedy, served as the song's inspiration.

In 2007, Diamond sang the song for her during a celebration of her 50th birthday. In a December 2011 interview with CBS's The Early Show, Diamond stated that the song's remaining lyrics came complete approximately five years after he saw a magazine cover photograph of Caroline with her parents when she was a small child riding a horse.

Diamond stated in 2014 that the song was about his ex-wife Marcia, but he had to come up with a three-syllable moniker in order for it to fit the rhythm.

Song lyrics of Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond

Where it began

I can't begin to knowin'

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

Hands, touchin' hands

Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I've been inclined

To believe they never would

But now I...

...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?

Warm, touchin' warm

Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I've been inclined

To believe they never would

Oh, no, no

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

Sweet Caroline

I believed they never could

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good