Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," the song near and dear to any Red Sox fan's heart, always sounded like a love song. Diamond certainly sang it like a love song, and it was easy to imagine a mystery Caroline who made Diamond's blood run hot.
Imagine our surprise when Diamond revealed the inspiration behind his classic--an image of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. A very young Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. Diamond said, "It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony."
The song was about a little girl? Guess that "warm, touchin' warm" bit was a little flourish Diamond added in at the last minute. Amy Derjue at Boston Magazine seconds that notion. But Kennedy Schlossberg probably only provided the name, and a lot of other women provided everything else. Or maybe Diamond just wanted to give Kennedy Schlossberg a nice surprise. (For the record, this Bostonist's mom, who named this Bostonist after "Sweet Caroline," thinks Diamond is "in his dotage and doesn't remember where the song came from.")
And who really cares, anyway? "Sweet Caroline" is now better known as the Red Sox eighth-inning song rather than the Neil Diamond sexy-time song.
Image from music.com.
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