Songs About Carole and Caroline

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I've done a few columns about people's names in songs (like Mary , Jenny , Charles and a few others). Well, after the first couple went up, I received a few requests for some other names in songs, and then this was one I started and yet, for some reason, never finished.

This column is about songs with Carol (or Caroline) in the title!


I'm not sure why I never finished this column, because I certainly have enough songs, and the songs are all decent to really good. It could have been that I just felt people were getting sick of name columns, or I was convinced by a constant reader to give it a rest for a while. Anyway, here is a list of songs about Carol and her close relative Caroline, being careful not to include songs about the US state . Having said that, the rest of the normal rules apply – one song per artist, one version of each song, I need to like the song.

With that, let's get on with this list of 10 songs about Carol and Caroline!
'Oh, Carol!' by Neil Sedaka (1958)

Let's start this list off with one of my mum's favourite artists and the song that really broke him internationally as a pop singer. I admit, this song still does it for me as well. His singing is really catchy and the lyrics are so easy to sing along to.
'Carol' by Chuck Berry (1959)

Later covered to great effect by The Rolling Stones, this was one of the many great songs put out by Chuck Berry that would go on to become bona fide classics. Not as blistering fast as some of his others, this is more a showcase for his guitar-playing and is still a pounding early rocker.
'Caroline, No' by The Beach Boys (1966)

Depressing song from the seminal Pet Sounds album, this was The Beach Boys at the peak of their creative and harmonising power. The whole album is fantastic with not a bad song on it, and this is definitely one of the highlights, to me.
'Sweet Caroline' by Neil Diamond (1969)

Oh, come on! You knew this song was going to be here! Now, while the studio version is fine (originally as a single, then re-recorded for Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show), this song really gained traction when released as a live recording (Hot August Night and subsequent live recordings) and the audience joining in all the way through, and Diamond sounding like he is having the time of his life singing it. Classic song.
'Caroline' by Status Quo (1973)

Okay, yes, many Status Quo songs of the 1970s into the early 1980s have been accused of sounding similar to one another. I know the joke. But that doesn't mean they aren't still great tracks, and this is one of the stronger singles they had at the time.
'Oh Carol' by Smokie (1978)

Smokie had a string of hits in the 1970s, but this is probably one of only two remembered today (along with 'Living Next Door To Alice'). It is a catchy tune, with some country vibes to it, and is a great bit of pop-rock fun.
'Caroline' by Fleetwood Mac (1987)

One of the rare percussion-heavy tracks released in the late 1980s, which is a shame because Mick Fleetwood is an under-rated drummer (see 'Tusk' for proof), this album cut is actually one of the tracks I prefer from Tango In The Night. A forgotten song from their canon.
'Caroline' by Concrete Blonde (1991)

A minor charting single from the band, this is still a decent bit of pre-grunge 1990s indie rock from a band that released a number of decent songs. All but forgotten nowadays, and, like I've said before about many others, that is a shame.
'Caroline & I' by The Go-Betweens (2003)

The Caroline in question is a princess of Monaco, making it a strange lyrical conceit. This track comes from not the classic Go-Betweens line-up, but the remade line-up after their 2000 reformation. Still, I bought the CD Single and I find it a pleasant track.
'Caroline, Yes' by Kaiser Chiefs (2005)

I'm not sure if this is meant as a response to the Beach Boys' song from 1966, or just a riff on the title, but this slower rocker from the UK band is a decent enough little tune that I managed to get on a compilation album way back when.
So, there we are – a quick-fire ten songs about Carol (and Caroline). It was nice to see a really good spread of decades represented, from the 1950s to the 2000s for this, showing that, as a name for songwriters, it has never really gone out of fashion.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this list.
via GIPHY

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