Music Friday: 'We Were Golden' Are the First Words to Kelsea Ballerini's Country Hit, 'Legends'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great, new songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we shine the spotlight on country singer Kelsea Ballerini and her current hit, "Legends," a song that uses a gilded phrase to illustrate an epic romance.

In the song's first line, she sings, "We were golden, we were fire, we were magic / Yeah, and they all knew our names all over town / We had it made in the middle of the madness / We were neon in a grey crowd."

The 24-year-old newlywed said "Legends" was originally a breakup song, but now she views it as a love song. She penned it when a previous relationship was on the rocks. Ironically, the song hit the airwaves two years later while she was planning her wedding to Australian country singer Morgan Evans. The couple tied the knot in December.

"I wrote it when I was going through a breakup, so that was the heart and the perspective that it came from," the Grammy-nominated "Best New Artist" for 2017 told The Boot. "But as I've lived with it, it's kind of changed meanings. It's a chameleon song for me. It's still a story about heartbreak, but now I'm in a very good place in my life and I sing it as a love song."

Released in June of 2017, "Legends" is the lead single from Ballerini's second studio album, Unapologetically. The song ascended to #11 this week on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also hit #3 on Billboard's Canada Country chart.

Ballerini was raised in Knoxville, Tenn., and wrote her first song at the age of 12. She went to college in Nashville, but left school after two years to pursue a music career. At the age of 19, she signed a record deal with Black River Entertainment. She released her debut single "Love Me Like You Mean It" in 2014 and was named one of CMT's Next Women of Country that same year.

Ballerina's career got a big boost when superstar Taylor Swift tweeted about how much she enjoyed Ballerini's self-titled EP.

"To have someone that you've looked up to for a long time admire your stuff and admire what you do is just a really big deal," she told TasteofCountry.com.

Please check out the video of Ballerini's acoustic version of "Legends," which she performed for Radio Disney. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Legends"
Written by Kelsea Ballerini, Forest Glen Whitehead and Hillary Lee Lindsey. Performed by Kelsea Ballerini.

We were golden, we were fire, we were magic
Yeah, and they all knew our names all over town
We had it made in the middle of the madness
We were neon in a grey crowd
Yeah, we wrote our own story
Full of blood sweat and heartbeats
We didn’t do it for the fame or the glory
And but we went down in history

Yeah, we were legends
Loving you, baby, it was heaven
What everyone wondered, we’d never question
Close our eyes and took on the world together
Do you remember?
We were crazy
Tragic and epic and so amazing
I’ll always wear the crown that you gave me
We will always stay lost in forever
And they’ll remember
We were legends

Like we were written down in permanent marker
Not even the brightest sun could ever fade
Come whichever hell or high water
It was always me and you either way
Hey, we wrote our own story
Full of blood sweat and heartbeats
We didn’t do it for the fame or the glory
We just did it for you and me

And that’s why we were legends
Loving you, baby, it was heaven
What everyone wondered, we’d never question
Close our eyes and took on the world together
Do you remember?
We were crazy
Tragic and epic and so amazing
I’ll always wear the crown that you gave me
We will always stay lost in forever
And they’ll remember
We were legends

We were legends
Loving you, baby, it was heaven
What everyone wondered, we’d never question
Close our eyes and took on the world together
Do you remember, baby?
We were crazy
Tragic and epic and so amazing
I'll always wear the crown that you gave me
We will always stay lost in forever
And they’ll remember
We were legends
We were, yeah, we were legends
Yeah, we wrote our own story

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Hand Set With 89 Pink Diamonds, 'The Jewelled Phoenix' Is a Coin Like No Other

"The Jewelled Phoenix," a remarkable three-dimensional gold coin hand set with 89 ultra-rare pink diamonds, was unveiled last week by mining company Rio Tinto and The Perth Mint at the 47th World Money Fair in Berlin. The delicately sculpted two-tone coin carries a price tag of $147,835 and will have a limited mintage of eight pieces.

“Inspired by ancient Chinese legend, the fine detail and artistry of The Jewelled Phoenix has taken our craftsmanship to the next level,” said Perth Mint chief executive officer Richard Hayes.

Embellished with plumage rendered in pink and purplish-pink diamonds, the 18-karat rose gold phoenix appears to be landing on the fabled paulownia tree, which has three of its flowers hand set with pink diamonds. Each coin will showcase 1.22 carats of colored diamonds sourced from Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamond Mine in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Each coin measures 60.6mm (2.39 inches) in diameter and contains more than 10 troy ounces of 99.99 fineness yellow gold and .45 troy ounces of 18-karat rose gold. The extraordinary three-dimensional rendering of the phoenix brings the thickness of the coin to 12.8mm (0.5 inches).

The phoenix is a mystical bird associated with ancient Greek and Asian cultures. The mystical Chinese phoenix is a symbol of happiness and prosperity.

The paulownia tree also has a special place in Chinese culture. An old custom was to plant a paulownia tree (also known as the "princess or empress tree") when a girl was born. The fast-growing tree matured quickly, so when the girl was ready to marry, the tree was cut down and carved into wooden articles for her dowry.

Legend also states that the phoenix will land only on the empress tree — and only when a good ruler is in power. The mintage of eight coins is also significant, because the number eight is considered extremely lucky in Chinese culture.

Credits: Images courtesy of The Perth Mint and Rio Tinto. Screen capture via YouTube/Perth Mint.

McDonald's Celebrates Big Mac's 50th and Valentine's Day With a 'Bling Mac Ring' Contest

A seven-tier stackable ring that uses champagne-colored diamonds to represent all-beef patties, tsavorites to depict the lettuce and pickles, and orange sapphires to illustrate the special sauce is the scintillating prize in McDonald's romantic "Bling Mac Ring" competition.

Valued at $12,500, the fanciful ring by New York-based designer Nadine Ghosn will be awarded to the Twitter user who does the best job professing his or her love for any of the three Big Mac sandwiches — Grand Big Mac, Big Mac and Mac Jr. The competition marks both Valentine's Day and the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac.

Just about everybody knows via the famous McDonald's jingle that the Big Mac consists of two beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a (three-part) sesame seed bun. Ghosn's challenge was to reimagine its iconic multi-layered sandwich in 18-karat gold and precious stones. We particularly like the sesame seeds rendered in flush-set round white diamonds.

“They were very adamant about having every burger ingredient represented in the ring,” Ghosn told NationalJeweler.com.

The competition, which started February 7 and will run through Valentine's Day, February 14, is being promoted via McDonald's Twitter page. The instructions: "Tweet @McDonald’s with #BlingMacContest and your funniest, most creative vows of love to the Big Mac burgers to compete to win the Bling Mac Ring." No purchase is necessary to participate.

A panel of experts will rate the entries based on the following criteria: 40% creativity; 30% love and affinity for the Big Mac sandwich; and 30% humor. Judging will take place from February 19 through February 28 and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. In addition to the ring, the winner will get a check for $4,286 to help pay for the taxes or to be used at the winner's discretion.

The Big Mac was invented in 1967 by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald's franchise owner in Uniontown, Pa. It was an instant success in the Greater Pittsburgh area and added to the McDonald's menus nationwide a year later. It was billed as a "meal disguised as a sandwich."

While the regular Big Mac has been a staple of McDonald's menus for five decades, the company is re-releasing the Grand Mac and Mac Jr. for a limited time.

Credits: Images and screen captures via Twitter.com/McDonalds.