If you’re watching the MLB postseason, you can’t escape the “Sweet Caroline” commercial.
I remember the days when I used to really like Neil Diamond. I’m not old enough to have been a Neil Diamond fan in the 1970s, when he was touring in his sequined jumpsuit singing “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue” at venues across the country. In those days, I was more likely to be found in front of the TV watching Sesame Street and The Electric Company, which was a criminally underrated kid’s show. (The Electric Company is the Tim Raines of kid’s shows.)
I discovered Neil Diamond in the 1980s, a decade after many of his top-charting hits. I used to mix in some Neil Diamond with my Van Halen, AC/DC, and Bon Jovi cassette tapes (look them up, kids). I remember driving around town with friends when I was in high school singing Neil Diamond songs. We were terrible singers, of course, but we sang anyway. “Sweet Caroline” was a favorite.
In 1996, the movie Beautiful Girls came out. It’s about a guy named Willie (Timothy Hutton) who returns to his hometown for his 10-year high school reunion. There’s a memorable scene in which he’s hanging out at a bar with his old high school buddies and the bar owner’s lovely cousin, played by Uma Thurman, shows up. She finds out Willie plays piano and asks him to play something. He starts playing “Sweet Caroline” and, of course, everyone joins in because how can you not?
I love that scene. I love that song. It reminded me of driving around with my friends singing into the warm, summer night’s air. Those were good times, long before we all grew up, got jobs, had families, and were forced kicking and screaming into adulthood.
A few years ago, I got a phone call from a friend who was on vacation in Boston. He said, “Mueltrain, listen to this.” It was hard to pick up through his cell phone at first, but soon enough I heard it. “ . . . touching meeeeee, touching youuuuuuu, sweeeeet Caroline . . . ba, ba, ba…” It was glorious. I’ve never been to Fenway Park, but I felt the excitement of the crowd singing “Sweet Caroline” through that phone call.