Chords + Lyrics | Sweet Caroline
Intro
||: F#11 :|| x7
Verse 1
| B | B | E | E |
Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing.
| B | B | F# | F# |
But then I know it’s growing strong.
| B | B | E | E |
Was in the spring, and spring became the summer.
| B | B | F# | F# |
Who’d have believed you’d come along.
Bridge 1
| B | B | B6 | B6 |
Hands, touching hands.
| F# | F# | E | E | F# | F# (F#sus4) |
Reaching out, touching me, touching you.
Chorus 1
| B | E (Emaj7) |
Sweet Caroline.
| E | E | F# | F# (F#sus4) |
Good times never seemed so good.
| B | E (Emaj7)|
I’ve been inclined.
| E | E | F# E | B/D# F#/C# |
To believe they never would, but now I.
Verse 2
Look at the night, and it don’t seem so lonely.
We filled it up with only two.
And when I hurt, hurting runs off my shoulders.
How can I hurt when holding you.
Bridge 2
One, touching one.
Reaching out, touching me, touching you.
Chorus 2
Sweet Caroline.
Good times never seemed so good.
I’ve been inclined.
To believe they never would, oh no, no.
Instrumental (re-intro)
||: F#11 :|| x7
Chorus 3
||: B | E (Emaj7) | E | E | F# | F# (F#sus4) :||
Sweet Caroline. Good times never seemed so good.
Sweet Caroline. I believe they never could.
Sweet Caroline. Good times never seemed so good.
Sweet Caroline | Chords + Lyrics (capo 2)
Intro
||: D/E :|| x7
Verse 1
| A | A | D | D |
Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing.
| A | A | E | E |
But then I know it’s growing strong.
| A | A | D | D |
Was in the spring, and spring became the summer.
| A | A | E | E |
Who’d have believed you’d come along.
Bridge 1
| A | A | A6 | A6 |
Hands, touching hands.
| E | E | D | D | E | E (Esus4) |
Reaching out, touching me, touching you.
Chorus 1
| A | D (Dmaj7) |
Sweet Caroline.
| D | D | E | E (Esus4) |
Good times never seemed so good.
| A | D (Dmaj7) |
I’ve been inclined.
| D | D | E D | A/C# E/B |
To believe they never would, but now I.
Verse 2
Look at the night, and it don’t seem so lonely.
We filled it up with only two.
And when I hurt, hurting runs off my shoulders.
How can I hurt when holding you.
Bridge 2
One, touching one.
Reaching out, touching me, touching you.
Chorus 2
Sweet Caroline.
Good times never seemed so good.
I’ve been inclined.
To believe they never would, oh no, no.
Instrumental (re-intro)
||: D/E :|| x7
Chorus 3
||: A | D (Dmaj7) | D | D | E | E (Esus4) :||
Sweet Caroline. Good times never seemed so good.
Sweet Caroline. I believe they never could.
Sweet Caroline. Good times never seemed so good.
Sweet Caroline Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Sweet Caroline. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, strings and vocals intact.
There is also a version with the chord chart indicating a capo on fret 2, try both!
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar down to 438Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
It makes sense to place a capo on the second fret when playing Neil Diamond‘s Sweet Caroline. At one point, I considered using fret 4, thinking in the key of G, and also entertained the idea of playing in B with no capo.
However, in the end, it’s likely best to play in the key of A with the capo on fret 2 so that’s what the TAB further down this guitar lesson focus on as well as this chord analysis:
Verse
The verse chords follow a simple I – IV – I – V progression, like this in the key of A:
||: A (I) | A | D (IV) | D |
| A | A | E (V) | E :||
Bridge
The bridge introduces a 6 chord, which stands out as the first extension. Here are the bridge chords for Sweet Caroline:
| A (I) | A | A6 | A6 |
| E (V) | E | D (IV) | D | E | E (Esus4) |
Chorus
The chorus is a bit more adventurous, incorporating maj7 and sus4 extensions. The descending chords in the final two bars add a nice touch:
| A (I) | D (IV) Dmaj7 | D | D | E (V) | E Esus4 |
| A | D Dmaj7 | D | D | E D | A/C# (/3) E/B (V/5) |
While some musicians may groan at the thought of playing Sweet Caroline, I find it to be great fun. To truly capture the spirit of the song, you need to go beyond simply strumming open-position chords, check out my TAB further down this lesson to find out more.
After putting in the practice time using the TAB and backing tracks, this chord chart is all you need to bring to the gig.
Sweet Caroline Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Sweet Caroline chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Sweet Caroline iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key back to B, which is important in case you forgot the capo!
Sweet Caroline | TAB
Using TAB, let’s first take a look at the intro of Sweet Caroline, both without and with a capo.
F#11 and D/E with a capo on fret 2 are the same thing. I could have called the first chord E/F#, but wanted to highlight that these are equivalent.
It’s definitely easier to play in the key of A, so let’s focus on that. Here’s the intro melody in case you prefer to play the riff rather than the chord.
Next up, the verse looks like this:
I really like the simplicity of moving from an E–shaped A to an A–shaped A, and using the same idea for the D chord—starting with an A–shaped D and shifting to a C–shaped D.
Finally, the E stays low. On the original recording, it’s just one string, but I felt that wasn’t quite enough when playing live.
Here’s the bridge—the 6 chord is lovely after so many triads.
Finally, the chorus looks like this:
Notice how the last two bars say E, D, A, and E—even though the actual shapes are E/G#, D/F#, A/C#, and E/B.
The reason is that the bass player needs to play E – D – C# – B. As long as they do that, we can stick to nice, compact, closely connected chords.
Use the chord chart and backing tracks alongside this TAB to make sense of it all.
Sweet Caroline Chords: Continue Learning
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