Real meaning behind England anthem Sweet Caroline

It's now the anthem of The Three Lions

In the stands, England fans have often been joined by the players on the pitch in belting out the song.

The song was first heard during England’s run to the Euro 2020 final, which took place in Wembley.

Sadly, things didn’t go well for England on the pitch as in the stands, as a defeat on penalties meant that it wasn’t coming home but Italy in fact were taking the trophy to Rome.

The name of the song and what it means for The Three Lions

The song is, as you probably were well aware by now: Sweet Caroline.

But how did this song which was first released in 1969 by an American rock star become an England football song all of a sudden?

As he wrote an article about what makes a great tournament anthem, Paul Carr, a professor in popular music analysis at the University of South Wales, said: “The big thing is simplicity of the melody, and there's something in the lyrics.”

The song's lyrics include the phrases “Good times never felt so good” and “Reaching out, touching me, touching you”, before the build-up to the chorus and the words “Sweet Caroline, ba, ba, baa!”

And Neil Diamond himself said that he was “thrilled” to learn that England fans had started singing his song.

Diamond, 85, said he actually wrote the love song about his then-wife Marcia, but her name didn't fit the tune.

So he changed it to “Caroline”, apparently after seeing a magazine cover with Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of US president John F Kennedy, featured on its cover.

Upon learning that England fans had adopted the song during Euro 2020, the singer-songwriter from New York said that he was “thrilled”.

England fans weren't the first to sing Sweet Caroline

The Sweet Caroline craze actually started earlier at football matches.

Arsenal played it after their 2017 FA Cup semi-final victory, and it has been claimed by fans of Aston Villa.

Meanwhile, it's also been used during other British sporting events such as cricket, rugby league and boxing.

This isn't the first pop song to echo around a sport stadium either.

Liverpool’s anthem “You'll Never Walk Alone” was written for the hit musical Carousel, while Scotland fans have claimed the song, “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”, a hit from 1977.

While The Three Lions - also known as the “It's coming home” song - which was England's official anthem in Euro 1996 has made a comeback in recent tournaments, following England's win over Germany at Euro 2020, the song's co-writer Frank Skinner said: “I thought Sweet Caroline went slightly better than Three Lions in the post-match sing-song.”