Music Friday: ‘Diamonds on a Ring of Gold’ Is a Key Refrain in U2’s Great Love Song, ‘All I Want Is You’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you the finest tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today’s musical gem is U2’s hauntingly beautiful love song, “All I Want Is You.”

Jewelry and gemstone references are repeated throughout the song. The memorable first line, in fact, goes like this: “You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold. You say you want your story to remain untold.”

Dedicated to his wife, Ali, Bono’s poetic lyrics speak of true love. Despite all the material things that can bring joy to a relationship and the challenges that can bring it down, what marriage is all about is turning to one another and saying, “All I Want Is You.”

Released in 1989 as the fourth single from U2’s Rattle and Hum album, “All I Want Is You” peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Despite its modest success, the song was back on the charts in 1994 when it was re-released after being featured on the soundtrack of the film, Reality Bites. This time, it climbed to #38 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart.

“All I Want Is You” has become a popular wedding tune. In fact, Bono toasted newlyweds Luciano Pavarotti and Nicoletta Mantovani with this song during their wedding celebration in 2003.

Dedicated to human rights and philanthropic causes, the Dublin-based U2 features Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr.  The group has won more Grammy awards than any other band (22) and has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.

Please see the video of U2’s live performance of “All I Want Is You.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

“All I Want Is You”
Written Bono. Music by U2. Performed by U2.

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want
Your story to remain untold

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You say you'll give me
A highway with no one on it
Treasure just to look upon it
All the riches in the night

You say you'll give me
Eyes in a moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbor in the tempest

But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You say you want
Your love to work out right
To last with me through the night

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you

You... all I want is...
You... all I want is...
You... all I want is...
You...

Romantic Montanan Carves Out ‘Liva – Will You Marry Me?’ in a Cornfield; Girlfriend Accepts Airborne Proposal

Montanan Miles Steinbach pulled off a monumental marriage proposal last week when he plowed the massive words “Liva – Will You Marry Me?” in his family’s cornfield and then convinced his girlfriend — who is afraid of flying — to view his handiwork from a prop plane.

Twenty-year-old Olivia “Liva” Campbell nearly missed what she called her “out of a movie” proposal because of a tight work schedule and persistent “aerophobia,” but in the end all the pieces came together perfectly in Big Sky Country.

Steinbach had told Campbell that he needed to take aerial photos of the ranch and asked that she come along to assist. After some prodding, she reluctantly agreed to take the short flight in their friend's prop plane.

As the airborne couple neared their destination, Campbell noticed an odd discoloration in one of the fields.

“We started to get closer and I saw the word ‘marry’ and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh this can’t be happening. This stuff doesn’t happen to me,’” Campbell told GoodMorningAmerica.com. “I turned around and Miles was holding a ring and smiling at me and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ I was, of course, screaming and said, 'Yes.'”

With the help of his uncle and a GPS device, Steinbach, a 23-year-old rancher, neatly carved the giant lettering into a cornfield near Bowman's Corner west of Great Falls.

The field was ready for the romantic fly-over about a month ago, but the fickle Montana weather, Campbell’s work schedule and her fear of flying kept delaying the opportunity to get in the air. Campbell told GoodMorningAmerica.com that she is still shaking from the excitement of her "out of a movie" marriage proposal.

Campbell and Steinbach have been together for four years and plan to get married in 2015, the same year as Campbell’s college graduation.

Dutch Hipsters Embrace Eyeball Jewelry; Tiny Platinum Charms Are Surgically Placed in the Whites of Their Eyes

Just when we thought we've seen it all, this cringe-inducing morsel appeared in the pages of Allure magazine. In a piece about unusual fashion and beauty trends from around the world, we learned that hipsters in Amsterdam are embracing eyeball jewelry — tiny platinum charms that are surgically implanted into the whites of their eyes.

Apparently, eyeball jewelry, also known as extraocular implants, leaves conventional tattooing and body piercing in the dust. It's the latest, most extreme new dimension in the art of body modification. It also looks pretty cool.

In a 15-minute procedure that takes place under a local anesthetic, a licensed ophthalmologist makes an incision with a small scissor in the interpalpebral conjuctiva – the eye's transparent outer membrane. Then, a wafer-thin platinum charm is slipped through the incision into the white part of the eye.

Charms are available in a number of shapes, including a heart, star, half moon, four-leaf clover, Euro sign or musical note. Manufactured by Hippocratech in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the jewelry is gently curved to fit the eye and is approximately 3.5mm (0.14 inches) wide. The jewelry may be positioned anywhere in the white of the eye.

Branded as JewelEye, these purely cosmetic implants were first developed at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (NIIOS) in 2002 using a technique that had been intended as a means for controlled drug delivery in glaucoma patients.

“In my view it is a little more subtle than [body] piercing,” said Gerrit Melles, director of the NIIOS. “It is a bit of a fun thing and a very personal thing for people.”

The NIIOS claims that the jewelry implant is completely safe. It does not impair eyesight, peripheral vision or the ability to move one’s eyes.

Critics of the procedure have warned that something as simple as eye rubbing could impale the implant into the eye, creating a surgical emergency with a likely loss of vision. Other concerns include the possibility of inflammation, scarring, bleeding or the charm’s migration into the orbit behind the eye, making it virtually non-retrievable.

JewelEye procedures start at $1,100 and are currently available only in the Netherlands.

Crowds Clamor to Get a Glimpse of Vermeer's ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ at The Frick in NYC

Elevated to superstar status by a best-selling 1999 novel and a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth, Johannes Vermeer’s 17th century masterpiece “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is drawing unprecedented crowds at The Frick in New York City.

Originally titled “Girl With the Turban,” the painting’s name was changed in the later part of the 20th century because a single drop pearl earring enlivens the portrait of a wide-eyed, moonfaced “Vermeer girl” looking over her shoulder. The painting was meticulously restored in 1994 to brighten the pearl to its original splendor, according to NY1.com.

"If you look closely, you'll see in the upper part of the pearl, a kind of highlight,” Collection Director Ian Wardropper told NY1.com. “And then you look in the bottom of the pearl and you see a reflection of her white collar. It's just a few strokes of paint, and in that [Vermeer] somehow captures this sense of a glistening pearl."

Painted circa 1665, “The Girl” is so special that it is the only work housed in The Frick’s famous Oval Room. This is the first time in nearly 30 years that this painting has been shown in New York. It’s been the crown jewel of the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in the Netherlands for decades, but the painting has been on a world tour while the museum is closed for renovation.

“The Girl,” which is sometimes referred to as the Dutch Mona Lisa, is the headliner of a larger exhibition of 15 works titled “Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Paintings From the Mauritshuis.”

The paintings can be viewed at The Frick through January 19, 2014. The Frick at 1 East 70th St. in Manhattan offers timed ticketing, plus three free Fridays each month. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students.

KC Chiefs Fan Swaps Bridal Set for Big-Game Tickets, Deflects Outrage by Clarifying the Jewelry Is From Previous Marriage

When a Kansas City Chiefs fan, known only as Rachael, offered to trade her engagement ring and wedding band for four tickets to the highly anticipated Chiefs-Broncos matchup on December 1, season ticket holder Rusty Jones quickly jumped on the deal.

"I went to Craigslist and found the ad," Jones told ABC News. "I showed my girlfriend the pictures and asked her if she liked it."

Apparently, girlfriend Janie Young-Tesch gave her approval, because Jones and the bridal set owner met on Thursday to have the jewelry appraised and to work out the final details of their trade.

By Friday night, Jones had popped the question and now the couple is happily engaged.

As the story went viral early last week, Rachael was widely criticized for being desperate and cold-hearted. How could she possibly give up her engagement ring and wedding band for football tickets? Later, she deflected the outrage by clarifying that the bridal set was from a previous marriage and that it held absolutely no sentimental value. The coveted Chiefs tickets would be a belated 40th birthday present for her current husband.

Rachael had described her bridal jewelry in the Craigslist ad as a “nice diamond ring and wedding band" worth $3,100. The engagement ring contained a .45-carat round, brilliant-cut center diamond in a white gold setting accented with 20 smaller diamonds weighing .50 carats. The matching wedding band contained 10 round, full-cut diamonds with a total weight of .25 carats.

Although a Kansas City jeweler appraised the set at $2,800 ($300 less than what Rachael had advertised), Jones still made the deal because the location of his seats in Section 123 near the end zone wasn’t exactly what Rachael requested. She ideally wanted tickets in the Lower Level or Club Level. Jones sweetened the offering by adding two seats to the Chargers-Chiefs game of November 24.

The Chiefs and division rival Broncos are having outstanding seasons. The teams played last night in Denver and will meet again in two weeks in Kansas City, where Rachael's husband and his guests will be cheering in Section 123. The Broncos prevailed 27-17 in Sunday’s primetime contest and are currently tied with the Chiefs at 9-1 for the top position in the AFC West.