Carolina ("Sweet Caroline" in Latin)

Rock’s “King of Guilty Pleasures” Gets a Tribute from his Latin Lovers

[Editor’s note: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Diamond has been called rock’s “King of Guilty Pleasures” for his saccharine melodies and Elvis-rivaling jumpsuits, but it’s hard not to smile in a bar full of people singing this song — especially when they’re singing it in Latin. Luke Henderson’s superb translation is easy to sing: just make sure you watch for the slowdown in the bridge.]

SWEET CAROLINE/CAROLINA (Neil Diamond) (tr. Henderson) [1969]

unde ortum, cognoscere non possum,

sed novi rem confirmari.

neque vere, nec tempore æstivo

tandem ad me advenisti.

[pons] tangunt manus se ac me,

extendentes ad te,

[chorus] Carolina, nemo dulcior quam tu!

hæc tempora ultra jucundissima! et ergo,

noctem specto, nec videor tam solus,

immo et frequens nobiscum.

nec jam fero graviter dolorem

cum te amplexu teneo.

[pons] uter utram et tangens,

et extendo ad te,

[chorus] Carolina, nemo dulcior quam tu!

hæc tempora ultra jucundissima!