Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' rewrite eliminates hands touching hands

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Matt Rosenberg | Monday, March 23, 2020 9:18 a.m.

Neil Diamond in a February 2017 performance at the Clive Davis and The Recording Academy Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

We all know by now that we should not have hands … touching hands.

Neil Diamond is doing his part to help.

The singer-songwriter has rewritten the lyrics in “Sweet Caroline” to be more in line with the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.

Sitting beside a fire with his dog, Diamond played the change in the song in a video posted Sunday.

The bridge, which normally would call for hands touching hands, has been altered.

In the original, Diamond sings: “Hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you.”

He replaces those lyrics in the coronavirus-related rewrite to: “Hands, washing hands, reaching out, don’t touch me, I won’t touch you.”

Diamond made no apparent changes to shouting “ba ba ba” or “Let’s go Pitt!” in the chorus.