Why do England fans sing Sweet Caroline?

Why do England fans sing Sweet Caroline?

It wasn’t until the 1990s that sports fans discovered the song’s charm. During that decade, music was regularly played in stadiums, and the Carolina Panthers, an NFL team from Charlotte, North Carolina, began playing the song at every home game because the chorus sounded like an ode to their state.

The following year, the Boston Red Sox baseball team also adopted the song. Diamond himself knew how important it was becoming: when the Red Sox’s home stadium, Fenway Park, reopened in 2010, he sang the song live. Although his singing wasn’t always perfect, he made up for it with exaggerated punches. “I think they consider it a good luck charm,” he told the Associated Press.

In the years since, it has caught on around the world. AFL team Sydney Swans play it. Rugby league side Castleford Tigers play it. The England cricket team celebrated their 2019 World Cup win with champagne and a few rousing choruses of Diamond’s tune, while prosecco-soaked crowds wanted to give it a go at Lord’s. Arsenal belted out the tune in 2017 to celebrate their FA Cup semi-final win at Wembley (and had to issue a response after fans questioned why it was played to celebrate their success two games in a row). Aston Villa started singing it at a match against Stoke City in 2019. After that draw, they went on a 12-game unbeaten run. The song became a good luck charm, and now English football fans believe it does the same.

What is “Sweet Caroline” about?

Not bad for a simple love song written from the perspective of someone who can’t believe how much their life has improved since meeting someone new. For years, legend has it that Diamond wrote the song in 1969 as an ode to Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving daughter of Jackie and John F. Kennedy, who was nine years old at the time.

That wasn’t entirely true. “I wrote a song for a session in Memphis, Tennessee. I needed a three-syllable name,” Diamond explained during an appearance on Today in 2014. “The song was about my then-wife. Her name was Marciaa, and I couldn’t find a rhyme to ‘Marciaa.'”

While pondering this mystery in a hotel room, Diamond saw a picture of Caroline Kennedy in a magazine. “It was a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear and next to her pony. It was such an innocent, wonderful picture,” he once said. Caroline worked, so Caroline became Marcia. 13 years ago, Diamond sang the song for Kennedy on her 50th birthday, in gratitude for inspiring his biggest hit.