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What inspired Neil Diamond to write “Sweet Caroline”?

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Neil Diamond’s hit song “Sweet Caroline” (1969) was inspired by a photograph of nine-year-old Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of Pres. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. Many years after writing the song, Diamond revealed that it was named for her and that he was inspired to write it by the “innocent, wonderful picture” of young Caroline with her pony. In 2007 he performed the song for Kennedy’s 50th birthday.