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July, 2007
DIRTY WATER: The Truth behind the "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway Park
By K5
Why her?
Why him? I mean, the Jazz Singer is "New York City, born and raised." If you’re a fan of Neil Diamond you know that much about him. But her - you might not know that much about Caroline. Don’t feel bad - a lot of people don’t.
But it happens every game, winning or losing, in the middle of the 8th inning, we blast Sweet Caroline for the Fenway Faithful. And everyone is so into it. A bewitching phenomenon that has even the most stoic of old-schoolers clapping in time and booming "BA BA BAAAA" with their bare-chested collegiate seat mate.
What is it about this siren that brings out the karaoke stars in Red Sox Nation?
I don’t know.
What I do know is how it all came to be.
The central nervous system at Fenway Park for game day communication lies 5 stories up in the Control Room. A handful of years a go, a fella up there wanted to celebrate the birth of his new daughter, Caroline, by playing a well-known Neil Diamond tune. It’s true. After that, the song was occasionally played when the team was doing well. In 2003, we started doing a lot better- so the song was used a lot more. The music programmer noticed that the crowd was singing along to the BA BA BAAA and began to bring the sound down all the way so that the fans could be heard.
Have you seen the movie Beautiful Girls? There is a part where the guys in the film are sitting around a piano singing the subject of this very piece and they all yell SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO GOOD! right after good times are described as such. Well, wouldn’t it be a smashing idea if the sound was brought down for that as well? Just so you know, the first time didn’t go so well, but credit to the Fenway Faithful; they catch on quickly. The fans get into it so much that they tend to sing along even after the song is over and the batter has taken his place in the box. The crowd will complete their respective chorus and then cheer for themselves like a bunch of crazy, prompted Muppets. It’s amazing and wonderful. And since then, I don’t think 'good times never seemed so good’- do you?
Whatever that means, I’m sure it’s the truth.
Warm, touchin’ Warm.
Reachin’ out.
Touchin’ Me
Touchin’ You
That’s a lot of warm touchin’ right here at Fenway Park. And if you’ve seen how tiny the seats are, you know what I’m talkin’ 'bout. Cozy.
So you know a bit more about Fenway Park lore.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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