Neil Diamond Writes Song for Bombing Victims
Though it doesn’t mention Boston or baseball, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is a staple at Red Sox games. In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, the singer-songwriter went to Fenway Park and sang it live. He subsequently donated royalties from the song to One Fund Boston, the charity started to help victims of the terrorist attack.
But he wasn’t through. Inspired by the events and the city’s resilience, the Brooklyn native went home and wrote “Freedom Song (They’ll Never Take Us Down),” a rousing patriotic piece that will become available July 2 on Amazon and iTunes. All proceeds will go to the One Find and Wounded Warriors Project.
Diamond will sing it live for the first time at a Washington Nationals baseball game on Independence Day and later that evening on “A Capitol Fourth,” the PBS broadcast of the holiday celebration from Washington.
“I, like so many other Americans, felt helpless during the recent attacks in Boston and wanted so much to reach out and not only help those people affected in a direct way but to lift their spirits as well and let them know they were not alone,” Diamond said.
“I was inspired to devote myself to the creation of a new song which expressed my love for this country and its two greatest assets: the spirit of its people and the freedoms it has afforded us all by law.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO