Why is ‘Sweet Caroline’ played all over Charlotte every Friday during coronavirus?
If you’ve been wondering why your neighbors are blaring car horns, screaming, cheering or singing “Sweet Caroline” on Friday evenings the past few weeks in Charlotte, wonder no more: they are sending support to heath care workers on the front lines of COVID-19.
The last official “Make Noise to Make a Difference” is tonight at 7 p.m.
SING ALONG: Knights Baseball will be blasting “Sweet Caroline” over the speakers at BB&T Ballpark and Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. The song will simultaneously air on the following I Heart Radio stations: 106.5 The End, 96.9 The Kat, 102.9 The Lake, 99.7 The Fox and Hits 96.1. You know, the song played at every winning Panthers game.
If you live uptown, step out on your balcony. And if you live anywhere in the Charlotte Metro area, step outside and belt out the song at the top of your lungs, and ring bells, clap hands, honk horns and cheer as loud as you can. Just make sure if you’re in a public place that you are cheering at a safe distance from those you are not quarantined with.
Christina Lewis and her family live on the west side of uptown, and their home has a rooftop patio with a view of the Panthers’ jumbotron. “My mom and sister are nurses. While they are not on the front line right now, it’s easy to imagine what families feel when their moms and sisters and loved ones sacrifice everything for the greater good. They are heroes,” she told CharlotteFive.
“Singing along and cheering for the heroes on Friday nights makes us so proud to live in Charlotte.”
WHY SWEET CAROLINE?
Why is “Sweet Caroline” the song the city loves to sing so loudly? “Caroline as a psyeudonym for Carolina was part of the original concept. Fans responded to it immediately following a win and it quickly became established as a musical version of lighting a victory cigar,” Riley Fields, the Carolina Panthers director of community relations, told CharlotteFive on Thursday evening. “We think it’s a perfect tribute as part of ‘Make Noise’ as we cheer our frontline workers that will ultimately help us get to victory over this COVID-19 pandemic.”
Riley called this a neighborhood partnership between the Carolina Panthers and the Charlotte Knights.
“We’re going to be out here as long as we need to so we can show our support for the health care workers and all those who are affected by the coronavirus,” Matt DuBois of the Knights said last Friday. “We ask you to join in and make as much noise as you can. ... Honk your horn, make noise, scream, yell, cowbells, whatever it’s going to take to help you be a part of this initiative.”
You’ll be joining other communities across the country who are cheering for front-line health care workers in their battle against the coronavirus pandemic. New York City cheers nightly for its health care workers, and one Broadway star who recently recovered from COVID-19 even serenades them from his balcony.
See you tonight, Charlotte. 7 p.m. sharp.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 12:49 AM.
