Let me get my biases out at the very front:
I do not like the song Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. It was one of many pieces of AM-radio pop-pap from my childhood that had been relegated to a far corner of my mind until its resurrection by the Red Sox. I’d be happy if they’d stop playing it, but on the other hand, it’s not my baseball team and it’s not my ball park. If people have fun with it, so be it.
But I found it interesting to see the front page opinion piece today in the Globe by Geoff Edgers: Please, banish ‘Sweet Caroline’ from Fenway Park.
I’ve always wondered of maybe I was wrong about the song since so many people enjoy it.
The song isn’t exactly “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” It’s a largely forgettable, three-minute slab of Velveeta with a distinct creepiness (“Warm, touchin’ warm”) when you consider it was written by Neil Diamond, pushing 30 at the time, about Caroline Kennedy, then a preteen.
OK, now I’m a bit more creeped out about it.
But if not Sweet Caroline, then what? How about a super-committee?
Put together a group of music-savvy baseball lovers. Sit Bill Janovitz at the head of the table. He’s known for his band Buffalo Tom and helping organize the Hot Stove Cool Music event run by Peter Gammons and Theo Epstein. He’s also a season ticketholder. What song would be better than “Sweet Caroline?”
His answer was swift.
“Anything.”
You could do far worse than Bill Janovitz, who is a good guy and really knows his pop and rock music.
Anyway, as I said, I just found it interesting that someone who is a Sox fan dislikes the song as much as I do, enough to put himself on the line and publish it on the front page. But, again, not my team, not my ball park. I can always turn the sound down or change the channel if at home, or go get a beer if at Fenway.
Opinions?
Play “Roadrunner” instead. 🙂
the Roadrunner obession…
n/t
only problem is the song is about twice as old as me… its not exactly a huge hit in the dorm rooms these days
n/t
It was a better song, done by a local band, and was popular at Fenway before the current rubbish.
Oh, and I completely share the diarist’s opinion of “Sweet Caroline”.
The Standells were a West Coast band that had
Never set foot in Boston when they were the song. It also
Talks about how polluted the river is and how its surrounded by muggers lovers and theives. I also don’t care since its a great song, iconic to all the Boston sports teams, an connected to the city in a way Sweet Caroline isn’t. They played that during the 04 season and its more of a pink hat anthem-but a sox tradition now.
Tessie
n/t
Maybe in 20 years and look back at the Dropkicks as a quaint, local indie band, and not a sold out overplayed edgy yet safe Pogues meets Bosstones derivative.
/rant
They certainly owe a debt to the Pogues. As for the Bosstones, I get what your saying, but those guys were ska. They were more influenced by hardcore bands like Gang Green and old school punk like Stiff Little Fingers.
And the Pogues? They owe as much of a debt to the Dubliners and the Clash as the Dropkicks owe to them. There’s no new thing under the sun.
I like the Dropkicks and the Pogues and the Dubliners.
I also don’t mind Sweet Caroline, in general or at Fenway, though I don’t really enjoy when the team has just given up a lead in the top of the 8th and everyone starts singing “So Good!”
I’m sort of resigned to the fact that “Sweet Caroline” is here to stay, but maybe they could not play it when they’re behind. Kind of like how they don’t play “Dirty Water” after a loss, but rather the organist plays “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” (And if the fans really want to sing it even when the Sox are down, let them sign it on their own, like a soccer hooligan terrace chant.)
When they won they’d play the Sinatra version of “New York, New York.” When they lost, they’d play the Liza Minnelli version until she complained. B*tch has no sense of humor.
They already play Dirty Water at the end of every game when they win.
I can’t help but think about this Will Farrell SNL skit.
Fair warning, NSFW.
Neil Diamond Storytellers by JimGoodwine
It was embedded in the preview.
Look, the song’s nothing special. But I think keeping it because it is now a 10-year tradition. The fans clearly enjoy it (if they didn’t, it would be different). It’s not this bogus way to revving up the crowd like shooting t-shirts from cannons, or crowd meters, or whatever. It’s a simple, fun, family-friendly moment that does seem to have the impact of revving up the team for the last 2 innings.
Why you’d advocate to dump it now, when the team has had so many great late-inning home comebacks is beyond me. If you want to make the case for ending it, I don’t know, say September 2012, that would make far more sense.
OK, two important things.
– No more “Sweet Caroline.”
– Nothing by Aerosmith.
My favorite? No. I think some folks connect it to the arrival of the “pink hats”, which frustrates them more than anything else.
Most traditions seem stupid at the outset, but it’s weird to think of getting rid of it now.
I don’t mind if they replace it with something next year, but it is a waste of time talking about it right now.
I do have fond memories of being at game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and feeling that the Yankees seemed a little bit rattled by the enthusiasm of the fans singing the song. I am sure everyone is used to it by now.