Sweet Caroline : Did the code name predict the future?

In 1998, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" began to be played at the end of games at Fenway Park, the home stadium of the Boston Red Sox. It was started by a woman who worked in the sound department at the stadium. It wasn't played at every game, but only when she felt like it, and only when the Red Sox were leading. However, it was a very catchy song, so many spectators began to sing along with Neil Diamond and sing parts of the lyrics. Then, in 2002, it was made an official tradition to play "Sweet Caroline" before the Red Sox's attack in the bottom of the eighth inning at every game at Fenway Park, and it has continued to do so to this day. It's so well-known that it's safe to say that every MLB fan knows it.

Neil Diamond's song collection CD, which includes “Sweet Caroline”(MCA)

"Sweet Caroline" is a song written and composed by singer-songwriter Neil Diamond himself in 1969, but the Caroline in this song refers to Caroline Kennedy, the beloved daughter of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy (JFK), who was assassinated in 1963. Neil Diamond himself has clearly stated that he wrote this song with Caroline Kennedy in mind.

A unique and wonderful biography of Caroline Kennedy, "Sweet Caroline: Last Child of Camelot" by Christopher Andersen (2003, William Morrow)

JFK was a special person to me. He was young, intelligent, energetic, and seemed to me to be a wonderful American president who embodied hope for the future. Furthermore, to my great delight, as I had been an avid Major League Baseball fan since I was eight years old, JFK loved baseball. I think he also said something like, "Baseball and the United States will stand together forever." During his presidency, he threw the ceremonial first pitch at the opening game of the Major League every year (three times in total). He was the first president to throw the first pitch at an All-Star Game after World War II.

I will never forget the day that JFK, who was such a special person to me, was assassinated. I think that not only I, but all Japanese people of my generation will never forget it. There was a special circumstance.

November 23, 1963 (November 22 in the US) was a national holiday in Japan. It was also a memorable day when the first broadcast connecting Japan and the US was made through a communications satellite in space. Because it was a national holiday, I, a 16-year-old high school student, woke up later than usual. I went down from my room on the second floor to the living room on the first floor and turned on the TV. And lo and behold, the news of JFK's assassination was being broadcast on the TV screen. The first satellite broadcast connecting Japan and the US had become the news of JFK's assassination. I was surprised and shocked, but I immediately shouted and woke up the whole family. My family woke up to see what was going on, and they were also surprised and shocked by the JFK assassination.

Just like my family, many households across Japan were surprised and shocked to learn of JFK's assassination on the first television broadcast connecting Japan and the United States via a communications satellite.

I was saddened that my beloved JFK had been assassinated, but I wanted to know why it had happened, so I read every book and magazine article about the JFK assassination I could get my hands on.

Among those magazine articles, I found one that was interesting. To summarize it briefly, it said this: "When JFK was assassinated, it was unknown where 5-year-old Caroline was. So the Secret Service and intelligence agencies desperately searched for Caroline. They issued the command, 'Find Lilac!' Because lilac was used as a code name for Caroline."

After reading this article, I thought that lilac, whose flower language is "first love" and "purity," was a good code name for Caroline.

Once I found it possible to look up various things on the Internet, I look up Caroline’s code name. And I found it seems that her code name was not lilac but lyric. The magazine I read seemed to have confused lilac with lyric.

Lyric has many meanings, but it can also mean the lyrics of a popular song like "Sweet Caroline" (it is usually used as the plural "lyrics").

Did the code name predict Caroline’s future use in song lyrics?

Caroline Kennedy served as the US ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017. During that time, she was extremely popular in Japan. And even now, she is very well-liked in Japan. Of course, I love her too.

I'm very happy that JFK's daughter is well-liked in Japan.

A concise and very well-written biography of Caroline Kennedy's life so far, “Caroline Kennedy Biography: A Life of Courage, Conviction and Service” by Lissette R. Kent (2025). It also mentions Caroline Kennedy's outstanding achievements as ambassador to Japan and how she was loved by many Japanese people.

( If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)