Music Friday: Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis Sings, 'I Was Your Silver Lining, But Now I'm Gold'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis sings about having the courage to pull the plug on a failing relationship in the 2007 release, "Silver Lining."

Penned by Lewis, the song explores the moment when our heroine breaks up with her boyfriend because she knows that — in the long run — she'll be better off without him.

She sings, "I never felt so wicked / As when I willed our love to die / and I was your silver lining as the story goes / I was your silver lining but now I'm gold."

The phrase "now I'm gold" refers to Lewis having the confidence to finally set out on her own. She is no longer defined as her boyfriend's silver lining — the glimmer of hope in his bad situation.

In the song's official video, Lewis and fellow bandmate Blake Sennett are seen exchanging vows in a church. But then, Lewis hands Sennett a gold coin and leaves him at the altar. Both child actors, Lewis and Sennett dated in real life until 2002.

"Silver Lining" is the first track on the indie rock band's fourth and final full-length album, Under the Blacklight. In retrospect, some critics believe that the song foreshadowed the band's breakup, which would take place four years later.

Both the single and the album achieved critical acclaim. Rolling Stone magazine tabbed Under the Blacklight as the 8th best album of 2007, and picked "Silver Lining" as the 27th best song that same year.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1998, Rilo Kiley was named for a mythical Australian rules football player that came to Sennett in a dream. According to a 2005 interview with syndicated radio show Loveline, Sennett dreamed he was being chased by a sports almanac. "When it got me, I leafed through it... and I came upon an Australian rules football player from the 19th century named Rilo Kiley. It's kind of embarrassing," Sennett admitted.

Please check out the official video of Rilo Kiley performing "Silver Lining." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Silver Lining"
Written by Jenny Lewis. Performed by Rilo Kiley.

And I'm not going back into rags or in the hole
And our bruises are coming
But we will never fold

and I was your silver lining
As the story goes
I was your silver lining but now I'm gold
Hooray hooray I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I'm gold.

And I was your silver lining
High up on my toys
Well you were running through fields of hitchhikers
As the story goes

hooray hooray I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I'm gold
Hooray hooray I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I'm gold

And the grass it was a ticking
And the sun was on the rise
I never felt so wicked
As when I willed our love to die

and I was your silver lining as the story goes
I was your silver lining but now I'm gold
Hooray hooray I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I'm gold
Hooray hooray I'm your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I'm gold
But now I'm gold
But now I'm gold
But now I'm gold

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

'Apollo' and 'Artemis' Diamond Earrings Could Fetch $68 Million at Sotheby's Geneva

Named after two of the most revered and powerful Olympian deities, Apollo and Artemis, this exquisite pair of diamond earrings — one blue, one pink — could fetch upwards of $68 million at Sotheby's Geneva on May 16.

Although Sotheby's is promoting the pear-shaped diamond earrings as a pair, they will be sold as individual lots. "The Apollo Blue" is a fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 14.54 carats, while "The Artemis Pink" is rated fancy intense pink and weighs 16.00 carats. The Apollo Blue carries a pre-sale estimate of $38 million to $50 million. His twin sister, Artemis, is expected to fetch between $12.5 million and $18 million.

“The Apollo and Artemis diamonds will be the stars of our May sale in Geneva — by far the most important pair of earrings ever offered at auction,” noted David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division. “These exquisite colored diamonds are enormously rare and each is a wonderful stone in its own right. Together, as a pair of earrings, they are breathtaking.”

According to Sotheby's, The Apollo Blue is the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond ever to be offered at auction. The Gemological Institute of America graded it as a Type IIb diamond, a purity rating earned by less than one-half of 1% of all diamonds. The Apollo Blue could be compared favorably to the famous "Oppenheimer Blue," which set a record last year when it yielded $57.5 million at Christie's Geneva. That stone weighed 14.62 carats and had a clarity grade of VVS1.

The Artemis Pink, earned a Type IIa rating from GIA, another category describing the most chemically pure type of diamonds. The pink diamond has a clarity grade of VVS2. Both diamonds boast exceptional optical transparency.

In Greek mythology, the twins Apollo and Artemis were the offspring of Zeus and Leto. Apollo was known as the god of the sun, archery and prophecy. Artemis was revered as the goddess of the moon, chastity, the hunt and the natural environment.

Apollo and Artemis are headlining a five-week promotional tour in the lead-up to the May 16 auction. The tour started in London on Friday and will continue to Dubai, New York, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Geneva.

Blue diamonds owe their color to traces of boron in the diamond’s chemical structure. Pink diamonds, on the other hand, owe their color to the effects of intense pressure and heat while they were still deep within the earth. These factors caused distortions in the diamond’s crystal lattice that influence the way the diamond absorbs green light, thus reflecting a pink hue.

Credit: Image courtesy of Sotheby's.

Last Day to See Dorothy's Ruby Slippers Is April 23; Conservation Care to Take One Year

In less than two weeks, the iconic Ruby Slippers made famous by Judy Garland in the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz, will be pulled from the wildly popular “American Stories” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The 78-year-old slippers — which have been slowly deteriorating — will undergo immediate conservation care, thanks to the generosity of 6,451 backers who contributed nearly $350,000 in an October 2016 Kickstarter campaign. The funds are also earmarked for a state-of-the-art display case designed to protect the slippers from environmental harm.

The current damage has been attributed to the slippers' exposure to light, humidity, oxygen and temperature fluctuations. The Smithsonian noted that their work will include determining the physical state of the slippers through scientific research and testing. This will help curators define the best methods for preservation and treatment, as well as the optimal case and exhibition design.

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers are often called “the most famous pair of shoes in the world," but the last day to see the slippers in their current state will be April 23. In about a year, the slippers will return as part of a new exhibition focusing on American popular culture.

The slippers were donated anonymously to the Smithsonian in 1979 and have been on display for nearly three decades.

In the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Dorothy’s slippers were made of silver. According to film lore, screenwriter Noel Langley recommended that they be changed to ruby red so they would stand out better on the yellow brick road when shot in brilliant Technicolor.

MGM’s chief costume designer Gilbert Adrian created multiple pairs of Ruby Slippers for the film, but only four pairs are known to still exist. The Smithsonian’s pair is the one Dorothy wore when she followed the Yellow Brick Road. The felt soles are heavily worn, suggesting they were the 16-year-old Garland's primary pair for the dance sequences.

A second pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005; a third pair was purchased in 2012 by Leonardo DiCaprio and other benefactors on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and a fourth pair is owned by a private collector in Los Angeles.

Interestingly, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers are not made of ruby at all. In fact, the bugle beads that prop designers used to simulate ruby proved to be too heavy. The solution was to replace most of the bugle beads with sequins, 2,300 on each slipper. The butterfly-shaped bow on the front of each shoe features red bugle beads outlined in red glass rhinestones in silver settings.

Admission to the National Museum of American History is free. It is located in Washington, D.C., on Constitution Avenue, between 12th and 14th streets N.W.

Credits: Images via Smithsonian, Kickstarter.com.