Where It Began...

Opening Day At Fenway - So Good!!


Tonight, the Boston Red Sox bring back summer with a fitting home opener against the Yankees and a special surprise appearance by Neil Diamond singing Sweet Caroline for the Fenway faithful.  This is Neil’s second time performing our 8th inning anthem at Fenway and the first time he’s done it during a game.

Like Foster's Beautiful Dreamer, Beethoven's ‘Fifth’ or Norworth's Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline is cementing it's place in history and will have no problem being remembered more than a hundred years from now because of what is happening today.

In its day, Sweet Caroline’s peak chart position in the U.S. was #4.  Since then, it has broken free of the statistical confinement of the other 3 songs that topped it and has, astonishingly, surpassed a composer's wildest dream of having a #1 hit.  It has taken on a life of it’s own and is the ultimate example of Mr. Diamond’s own view on how ‘new’ songs are “soon…not yours anymore.”

Its lyric continues to echo in the hearts of 1969-ers who still hear the soundtrack of their youth underneath the "so-goods" that have been overlaid by the next generations who, inexplicably, can't quite put a finger on why this song does what it does for them.

Perhaps today’s rendition may tire on some. But for now, it comes down to those who love it and have adopted it as an official anthem of Red Sox Nation.

I’d say that Neil is extremely aware of the historic implications that his composition has beyond Fenway Park's walls but is equally grateful that this is where the choir lives.  So, if anything, he is (and we are) taking full advantage in securing his legacy in the annals of the American Popular Song.

Sweet Caroline is just one song of countless Neil Diamond hits but will likely be his most memorable.

Soundtrack For Today:  Go Sox!!
 

Final Score: Red Sox 9; Yankees 7