Performances of Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline,’ an unofficial anthem for the city of Boston, rippled through baseball stadiums in the days after the bombing, and Diamond turned out for a live rendition of his own at the Red Sox home game on April 20. It’s all added up to a nearly 600 percent sales increase for the song — and Diamond is donating royalties from recent sales to the bombing victims.
Rolling Stone reports that Diamond’s been affected by the violence on a deeper level; in fact, he says he’s working on new music inspired by what he calls “an infestation” of darkness. “I’m writing now and obviously affected by this situation in Boston, so I’m writing about it just to express myself,” he explained to the magazine. “I’m writing about the general situation, not just about this bombing in Boston, but what we’re going through with all of these tragedies — shootings and so on and so forth.”
We can expect to hear the results of Diamond’s labors sooner than later; as he explained earlier this week, “With a little bit of help from the man upstairs, I’ll have it finished by the weekend.”
source: ultimateclassicrock.com