Music Friday: Glen Hansard Wonders If a Little Band of Gold Can Keep Her Love From Going Cold

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter-actor-musician Glen Hansard wonders if a simple wedding band has the power to save his marriage in the 2015 folk song "Wedding Ring."

Written by Hansard, "Wedding Ring" is about a man who loves his wife but has doubts about her fidelity. He describes her as a "wildcat on the prowl" and fears he may be losing her.

In the catchy refrain, Hansard asks, "Wedding ring, wedding ring / Little band of gold / Will you be strong enough to keep her / Keep her love from going cold?"

"Wedding Ring" appears as the second track of his second studio album Didn't He Ramble. The 2015 LP scored a nomination for Best Folk Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. It also performed well on the charts, rising to #5 on the U.S. Billboard Folk Albums chart and #16 on the U.S. Billboard Top Alternative Albums chart.

Born in Dublin in 1970, Hansard dropped out of school as a 13-year-old and eked out a living as a street performer. At the age of 20, he formed a band called The Frames and later became one half of the folk rock duo The Swell Season.

He showed off is acting chops in The Commitments (1991) and starred in the musical Once (2007). In that role, he performed the lead ballad "Falling Slowly" with co-star Markéta Irglová. The tune netted him an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

According to Allmusic.com, Hansard is an artist who is not afraid to lay bare his soul for his audience to see. Hansard claims his music inspiration comes from three world-class artists.

Says Hansard, "In my house, when I was a kid, there was the holy trinity, which was Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan — with Bob sitting center."

Please check out the video of Hansard's live performance of "Wedding Ring." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Wedding Ring"
Written and performed by Glen Hansard.

Where you running to now, baby
Running all the time
Where you running to now, darlin'
Running to all the time
Well, I sure hope it's to your sister
And not that mean brother of mine

I've been trying to reach you, darlin'
I try, I try in vain
I've been trying to reach you, darlin'
Though I try, I try in vain
I always end up losing you
And walking home in the rain

Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
Keep her love from going cold?

There's a wildcat in you, woman
A wildcat on the prowl
There's a wildcat in you, woman
A wildcat on the prowl
Every time I put my arms around you
I can hear that wildcat growl

I remember when I met you
There was something about the moon
I remember the night I met you
There was something about the moon
I don't know if it was waxing or waning
But I knew that you'd be leaving soon

Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from getting old?

Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from going cold?

Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from getting old
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from going cold?

Credit: Image capture via YouTube.com.

Buckingham Palace Releases a Sapphire Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to Mark Her Sapphire Anniversary

On Monday, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 65th year on the British throne. Buckingham Palace commemorated the sapphire anniversary by re-releasing a portrait of the 90-year-old Queen bedecked in a suite of glittering sapphire jewelry her father, King George VI, gave her as a wedding day gift nearly 70 years ago.

Snapped by British photographer David Bailey in 2014, the portrait shows Her Royal Highness in a beaded sky blue gown accessorized by an elaborate sapphire necklace and matching earrings. The Royal Family's official Twitter account posted the portrait with the caption "Today marks 65 years since Her Majesty The Queen acceded to the throne #SapphireJubilee."

The mid-19th century necklace has 14 stations of large emerald-cut sapphires framed by round diamonds. Separating each cluster is an individual diamond.

The necklace was originally designed with 18 sapphire clusters, but was shortened by four links in 1952, according to the blog titled "From Her Majesty's Jewel Vault." Seven years later, the Queen took the largest cluster and had it transformed into a hanging pendant, which doubles as a brooch. Each pendant earring highlights a large teardrop-shaped sapphire surrounded by smaller round diamonds. All the gemstones are set in gold.

The Queen broke the record as the longest-reigning British monarch in September 2015. She had ascended the throne on February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father, King George VI at age 56. The Queen received the sapphire suite in November of 1947, when she wed Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The Prince will be 96 in June.

Bailey's image of the Queen was originally used to illustrate England's 2014 "Great" campaign, which promoted the UK as a great place to visit, study and do business.

Credit: Image by David Bailey via Twitter/The Royal Family.

4,990-Carat 'Fire of Australia' Opal Valued at $686,000 Illuminates South Australian Museum's Front Foyer

The Fire of Australia, known as the world’s most valuable piece of rough opal, has taken up permanent residence in the South Australian Museum’s Opal Collection. Valued at $686,000 (AU$900,000), the opal was purchased for AU$500,000 through the generosity of a private donor and AU$455,000 in funding from the Australian government’s National Cultural Heritage Account. The uncut, 4,990-carat opal is now on public display in the front foyer of the Adelaide-based museum.

Nicknamed “The Monster," the unique gem comes with an equally unique history. In 1946, prospector Walter Bartram was working his dusty terrain at the prolific Eight Mile field in Coober Pedy, South Australia, about 466 miles north of Adelaide, when he staked a claim to what became known as the Fire of Australia.

"At the end of the war all of the sons and siblings and greater families were all invited to come and join in this prolific field, which was absolutely exceptional and not very deep so they could do it with hand mining," said Alan Bartram, Walter’s son. "Everybody that was there was successful, some to a huge extent."

The brilliant, 998-gram (2.2 pound) opal has been in Bertram’s family for more than 60 years. According to the BBC, the opal has mostly been kept in a safe deposit box since being unearthed with a pick and shovel more than 70 years ago.

“After loaning the Fire of Australia to the Museum for its Opals exhibition, we made the decision to place this family heirloom in its safe hands,” said Bartram. "It seems fitting that it should be passed onto the people of South Australia to enjoy.”

Though still in its rough condition, two faces of the Fire of Australia have been polished, revealing the rare gem’s exceptional quality. Its kaleidoscope of colors transition from deep green to bright yellow to dark red, depending on the viewing angle.

“The Fire of Australia is the largest piece of high-quality light opal rough in existence,” Collection Manager Ben McHenry McHenry said. “Ordinarily, it would have been cut up for the jewelry trade. Keeping it in its current form gives the museum the opportunity to display to its visitors just how magnificent opal in the rough can be.”

Museum Director Brian Oldman also praised the rare and unique quality of the stone.

“Opal of this quality can only be created under certain climate conditions,” Oldman told ABC. "When our state's inland sea evaporated millions of years ago, it provided a unique silica-rich environment for the creation of precious opal. It is these exceptional conditions that created the Fire of Australia.” The opal's rarity should not be underestimated, he noted.

According to the South Australian Museum, opals are the most visited exhibition in the Museum’s history, resulting in donations of $3 million+ in precious opals, including the Fire of Australia.

Bartram remarked to ABC News that while he could have raised a much higher price for the Fire of Australia at international auction, it was important to him that it remained in South Australia. "It is such a piece, so outstanding that it would have been a sheer misery to see it go to another destination and be cut up for watch faces or something like that," he said.

The mining town of Coober Pedy still draws crowds enticed by the fantasy of striking it rich.

“South Australia supplies about 90% of the world's quality opals, so there may be more major finds," Bartram said.

The Museum will proudly display the Fire of Australia opal in its front foyer until February 28, 2017.

Credits: Images courtesy of South Australian Museum.