Sweet Caroline

[VintageSG]

Stuck in the back seat of my parent's car. All the way down to Cornwall. Seven hours. Every time we went out in the car. For two weeks. Seven hours back. endless Neil Diamond. The tape player was an auto-reverse model. The tape was jammed. Switch it on, Neil ruddy Diamond. No option to have the radio as an inserted tape took priority.
It turned out, for me, to be effective aversion therapy. Neil Diamond on endless loop with my father singing along, and thumping the steering wheel.
I shudder at the unexpungeable memory.

 

[srblue5]

I read somewhere that "Sweet Caroline" was written in a style similar to "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees (or maybe it was vice versa). I'm not sure if that's true or not but I can kind of hear similarities between them. Neil Diamond didn't write "Daydream Believer" but did write "I'm a Believer" and several others for The Monkees.

It's kind of fun when audiences get into it (especially the "bah, bah, bah" part), but I wouldn't choose to cover that song myself. I prefer "Daydream Believer", personally.

I vote for the Don't Stop Beleving' by Journey.

+1.

In the early 2010s, I played in three different bands that all wanted to do that song (one of them because it had been recently featured in the show Glee...I'm not joking). Never liked the song to begin with (musically/melodically or lyrically), I liked playing it even less, and I didn't have good experiences with playing that song with my bands. Audiences and singers seem to want to hear that song exactly like it was originally recorded (right down to the tempo and solo), so putting my/our own spin on it was/is difficult. I now categorically refuse to play that song.

Mid-70s, I had a super hot girlfriend who just loved Neil Diamond. I had to buy, and play, that Hot August Night double album for a whole summer. It almost killed me, but she was worth it…

I had a partner that did that with a Spotify playlist of maybe 7 or 8 songs that had to be played multiple times every car ride, even when we were on the way to my gigs. It wasn't worth it. Because of that playlist experience, I never want to hear "Havana" or "Sister Golden Hair" ever again.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Enough!

Nobody wants to hear it. People don’t sing it in bars. People don’t sing it at sports. Bands don’t play it. Make it stop. Now!

That is all.

You're obviously confusing Boston with Austin.

 

[bowman]

Do you we have any pictures of the girlfriend? That way we can judge if she was worth it…

#sarcasmfont

Hahaha - any pics, if they indeed actually exist, shall remain the personal property of myself, never to be seen. Or so her lawyers told me in the lawsuit…if indeed there was a lawsuit.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

This is how I feel every time I'm watching a Timbers game and You Are My Sunshine starts getting sung by the fans. I punch my TV in the face when it happens despite the story behind it.

There's really only one footy song that is worth it.

 

[Dennyf]

BAH-BAH-BAHHH!

C'mon, man, sheep gotta sheep.

 

[VintageSG]

BAH-BAH-BAHHH!

C'mon, man, sheep gotta sheep.

Don't ewe start too.

 

[notmyusualuserid]

The song doesn't bother me so much unless groups of people are singing it and are all singing that brass accompaniment part. (I think that's the "bah bah bah" people are posting about.)

See the bottom quote.

Maybe I'm pedantic enough to change my handle to "TDPRI John," but it bugs me a little when people say "wedding" and mean "the reception."

I think most non-musicians (1 and 3 clappers) probably have to be drunk to hit those high notes. The melody to "The Star-Spangled Banner", with its wide vocal range requirements, was originally a drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven."

Unless he sold his catalog. See above. If he did sell his catalog, the purchasers are getting a pretty good return on their investment.

'Wedding' is the whole thing, including the 'wedding service' and the 'wedding reception'

 

[NoTeleBob]

Don't ewe start too.

These puns really get my goat.

 

[Toto'sDad]

It’s one of those I think musicians roll their eyes. But “civilians” love it. Much like Freebird or Oasis’ Wonder Wall. And many others that you’ve played so many times you grow to hate it.

Paradise City is another than comes to mind. The intro seems to hype most people up. And I lower my brim over my eyes and try to get away from it.

You know, your post just makes me want to skip down the street and tie a yellow ribbon 'round that old oak tree!

 

[Toto'sDad]

Many moons ago, I was coming into a little burg south of Taft California (also a little burg) when I see this CHP blocking the road. So, I stop, put on the flashers on my truck and walk up there to see what the ruckus is. The cop says Neil Diamond is filming somethig, and you gotta hold up for a minute.

Well, I look up there and Neil is all dressed up like a Cowboy, someone is holding a horse and he's drinking a cup of joe from what looks like a catering truck. A group of people are all just standing around up there.

By the time I get back to the truck, there's a line forming behind me, and I can see down at the other end of the little town the same setup is going on. After a bit, they filmed a little bit of something, got out of the way, and they let us go on through the town. I headed on over to 166 and to where I was going to make a pickup. I never did know what any of that was about.

 

[Midgetje94]

You know, your post just makes me want to skip down the street and tie a yellow ribbon 'round that old oak tree!

The first time I ever heard that was in the form of a military cadence. To this day I rather that

 

[Toto'sDad]

The first time I ever heard that was in the form of a military cadence. To this day I rather that

Usually, after Tony Orlando & Dawn lay that thing on you, it takes a jackhammer to both ears to get it out!

 

[Midgetje94]

The first time I ever heard that was in the form of a military cadence. To this day I rather that

Wait…. Different yellow ribbon song. But yea. I know what you’re talking about @Toto'sDad

 

[MarkieMark]

You know what bugs me?

The constant reminder of the quote about those who complaineth in excess...
(As the clouds part in response to the shaking of my fist...)

 

[LGOberean]

It's in my performance repertoire, but I hardly ever play it. That said, at the last paying gig I did (first Friday night of this month), someone actually requested it. I did my best to perform it, but my memory actually failed me on a line in the second verse, I hadn't played it in so long.

 

[NoTeleBob]

You know, your post just makes me want to skip down the street and tie a yellow ribbon 'round that old oak tree!

Usually, after Tony Orlando & Dawn lay that thing on you, it takes a jackhammer to both ears to get it out!

Yeah. Thanks for the earworm.

Now I have to put in the earbuds, crank some Jimi, and sit in solotude for an hour to get it out.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Yeah. Thanks for the earworm.

Now I have to put in the earbuds, crank some Jimi, and sit in solotude for an hour to get it out.

You won't get off THAT easy!

 

[MarkieMark]

Here is my fix for that.

"Knock three times"
"Last night, I didn't get to sleep at all"
"I'll never fall in love again"

It all in our head folks.
After all...
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog"
And "Does anybody really care what time it is?"

I've got more.
Don't test me...

 

[Pcs264]

Sweet Caroline? One of the worst songs by a performer whose very best work almost reaches the level of mediocrity.