Greatest love songs ever: #28 “Sweet Caroline”
“The good times never felt so good!” That’s the feeling that washes over young lovers as they bask in the glow of Neil Diamond’s classic 1969 love song, “Sweet Caroline.”
Such a happy song! It offers the same exuberant, youthful vibe as “Happy Together,” #29 on our list.
This is Diamond’s second entry on my list of the 52 Greatest Love Songs Ever. (The first was #43, “I’m a Believer). He’s one of but a handful of songwriters who made my list more than once.
Neil Diamond is an interesting musical figure. He ranks as one of the best-selling musical artists over the past century. And yet he has his detractors. Some criticize his songs’ lack of edge, relying on over-sentimentalism and ‘sweetness.’
Some just plain don’t like his vocal style. Fair enough.
I guess I like his lack of edge. Edgy songs often descend into the sinful and cynical. I like music that elevates, and Neil Diamond was (and is) a master at elevating us, as “Sweet Caroline” demonstrates.
On the surface, the song is all about young love, that delightful feeling that makes everything right, even if something is wrong, as Diamond sings:
”And when I hurt
Hurtin’ runs off my shoulders;
How can I hurt when holdin’ you?”
Deeper meaning?
Interestingly, the Jewish-born Diamond occasionally weaves spiritual clues into his lyrics, and acknowledges as much in “Sweet Caroline:”
Neil Diamond
“I think there’s a little bit of God in that song. I always have felt that. There’s no accounting for what can happen to a song.”
That’s the beauty and mystery of good art. Sometimes God guides the artist without the artist even knowing it. Imagine how a Catholic might interpret lyrics like these:
“Hands,
Touchin’ hands,
Reachin’ out,
Touching me, touchin’ you.”
We look at Christ’s hands, nailed to the cross, reaching out.
We present our gifts to God with our hands reaching out.
The Holy Spirit transforms our gifts into the Body and Blood of Christ, connecting us with the divine in a mystical occurrence initiated by the sense of touch.
Christ touches me, He touches you, He reaches out to us, filling us with divine life.
Just as we are full of life when touched by that first blush of young love, we are filled with life through the consuming passion of Holy Eucharist, a miracle performed upon an altar of sacrifice.
Was Diamond thinking of all of this when he composed “Sweet Caroline?” Of course not. But if we take the time to contemplate a work of art, sometimes it takes us someplace the artist never imagined.
“Sweet Caroline” took Diamond’s career to a place he never imagined:
“It was a number one record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career.”
The song is played in arena’s around the world because it is simply that beloved of a song. Most notably, the Boston Red Sox play it at each home game they play at Fenway Park.
Everyone who is anyone in the music world has covered the song over the past half century. Diamond makes it clears who covered the song best: Frank Sinatra. Said Diamond:
“He did it his way. He didn’t cop my record at all. I’ve heard that song by a lot of people and there are a lot of good versions, but Sinatra’s swinging, big band version tops them all by far.”
Sinatra sings “Sweet Caroline”
Next week’s love song is the second entry to my list by a legendary songwriting duo. This song is so good that not 6 … not 60 … but six-hundred different professional singers have recorded it!
You’ve got a real treat in store. ’Til then, keep spreading these love songs, because love is the antidote to abortion. They fill us up with life. Practically speaking, your prayers are the lifeblood to Pulse Life Advocations. But donations help, too. They allow us to educate, lobby, and inspire a culture on the beauty of human life from fertilization to natural death. Make your gift now. Thank-you.
