Neil Diamond fans were baffled after searching for the lyrics to 1969 classic Sweet Caroline, only for the top result to be the website of a Scottish health body
Ian Craig Social Newsdesk Content Editor
06:00, 22 Feb 2026
Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, pictured performing at the OVO Hydro in 2015, is an absolute classic(Image: Redferns via Getty Images)
Sweet Caroline by music legend Neil Diamond is a genuine singalong anthem. Whether it’s at karaoke, or just down the pub, all you need to do is begin singing the opening lines, and soon everyone nearby will be roaring out the legendary chorus of “the good times never felt so good!”
The lyrics aren’t particularly hard to remember, but if you need a reminder, a swift internet search will sort you out. However, fans have spotted something rather peculiar when looking up the lyrics for the 1969 chart-topper.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, one user, called Ash, shared a screenshot of an unusual result that appeared when they searched for the words on Google. Alongside a screenshot of the search result, they posted: “Why does the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland have a PDF of the lyrics to Sweet Caroline and why is it the top result on Google?”
Indeed, if you search for the words on Google, you’ll initially get the lyrics shown at the top of the page. But if you scroll down through the links, the first result is a PDF on the website of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, reports the Daily Star.
The organisation unites health and social care bodies from across Scotland with the aim of driving change to enhance the lives of patients. So a sheet of lyrics from a 1969 music classic isn’t the kind of thing you’d anticipate finding on its website.
The document doesn’t seem to have been mislabelled – the small preview shown in the Google results does indeed display the opening lines of Sweet Caroline: “Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing. But then I know it’s growing strong. Was in the spring. And spring became the summer.”
Sadly, clicking on the link only yields a message stating: “404 not found. The resource request could not be found on this server!” We reached out to the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland for any insight into the mystery, but they didn’t respond.
But one person on X shared a potential explanation. Eddie Coldrick wrote: “They ran sing-along sessions in 2020, so uploaded the lyrics to their website.”
He linked to an article on the organisation’s website from 2020, when the UK was locked down in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, detailing a forthcoming Zoom singalong. Although there’s no mention of Sweet Caroline on there – with lyrics to Roar by Katie Perry and David Bowie’s Heroes provided on the site – this could well be the answer to the mystery.
Another joked: “It’s used to test brain activity in white coma patients. There’s usually an observable spike in activity that aligns with the ‘BAH BAH BAHHH’ in each chorus.”
Content cannot be displayed without consentWhat is Sweet Caroline about?
For years, the subject of Neil Diamond’s 1969 hit remained a mystery. However, in 2007, the music icon finally unveiled the truth.
He revealed that the chart-topping song was written in tribute to President John F Kennedy’s daughter Caroline, who was 11 when it was released. “I’ve never discussed it with anybody before, intentionally,” as reported by The Washington Post. “I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday.”
That same year, he performed the song for Caroline Kennedy at her 50th birthday celebration. He added that he had been inspired after seeing a photo of the young girl in a magazine, noting it took him less than an hour to pen the song.
“It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony,” he said. “It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there.”
He continued: “It was a number one record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration,” he said. “I’m happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy.”
However, in 2014 he disclosed there was more to the tale. Speaking on US TV network NBC’s TODAY programme, he explained: “I was writing a song in Memphis, Tennessee, for a session. I needed a three-syllable name. The song was about my wife at the time – her name was Marsha – and I couldn’t get a ‘Marsha’ rhyme.”
Neil Diamond was married to production assistant Marcia Murphey from 1969 until 1994, having previously been wed to high school sweetheart Jaye Posner from 1963 until 1969. He married his third wife, Kate McNeil, in 2012.
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