Neil Diamond has revealed that Caroline Kennedy was the inspiration for his hit song, “Sweet Caroline.”
Diamond was a “young, broke songwriter” when a photo of the president’s daughter in a news magazine caught his eye.
“It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony,” Diamond recalled. “It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there.”
Other than being a little creepy, a grown man singing “Warm, touchin warm/Reachin out/Touchin me/Touchin you” to a little girl of about eight or nine (she was born in 1957 and Diamond’s first hit was “Solitary Man” in 1966, which means he had passed the “young, broke songwriter” stage by then).
I’ve always been a fan of Diamond’s early work, but if I find out “Cracklin’ Rosie” was written about a young Rosie O’Donnell, I’m outta there.
