Music Friday: Bailey Hefley Regains Her Sparkle in the New Release, ‘Dust on a Diamond’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you new songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, rising star Bailey Hefley mends a broken heart and regains her sparkle in the 2019 release, "Dust on a Diamond."

When the song begins, the 27-year-old Little Rock native is looking into a mirror "crying black mascara rain." A failed relationship has her feeling defeated and questioning her self-worth, but then she gathers the strength to fight back and affirm that she was always "good enough." Her former boyfriend's actions can not define her. She's a diamond. He was just the dust that kept her from shining.

She sings, "You’re a diamond / You were trying to shine for a blind man / Wasting all your pretty and your tears on a man who was picking up pennies / With a dime in his hand baby don’t spend any more / Time on tryna figure out whatcha did wrong / I know you thought it was love / But it was lying, that boy was dust / Dust on a diamond."

On her official website, Hefley described the events that led her to co-write "Dust on a Diamond" with Marti Dodson and Linda Greene.

“I went through a really difficult breakup with a guy that I think a lot of girls can relate to,” noted Hefley. “It totally tore me apart. I was in school and I was trying to study and I can remember taking my notebook and just trying to write in the margin little notes to myself. I was so distracted by the fact that I couldn’t move on from this guy. I was so broken and I didn’t believe in myself. I would write little positive notes to myself in the margin and then stand up and go look in the mirror in my bathroom and just cry. As embarrassing as that is, I would just cry and with tears streaming down my face, red eyes, looking in the mirror, saying, ‘You are gonna be okay. You’re good enough. This doesn’t define you.’"

Shortly after going through this emotional trauma, Hefley had a friend who was experiencing a very similar situation. She remembered thinking, "Maybe that’s why God put me through all that pain. I kept wondering why I had to go through it. And then the thought dawned on me that maybe I can help more than just this other girl. Maybe I can write a song about it and help a lot of girls. Maybe I can write the song I wish I had when I was in that place.”

"Dust on a Diamond" is the lead single from Hefley's six-song, soon-to-be-released EP titled Hopeful Romantic.

Her diary-style storytelling was influenced by a childhood marred by debilitating seizures. The powerful medication that kept her alive also left her in a state of perpetual lethargy. As a teenager, she overcame her condition and felt awake for the first time.

"I spent eight years of my life standing back and observing people and watching life from the outside because I was so medicated," Hefley said. "Naturally, I’m a very extroverted person, but during those eight years, I developed a quality of seeing what’s around me. I think it gave me depth and made me a much stronger person."

Hefley's mentor, singer-songwriter Bobby Pinson, helped teach her to channel those experiences into her music.

After studying voice at Nashville’s Belmont University from 2009–2010 and continuing her degree at the University of Arkansas from 2010–2012, Bailey moved to Music City for good in 2012.

Please check out the video of Hefley's acoustic version of "Dust on a Diamond." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

“Dust on a Diamond”
Written by Bailey Hefley, Marti Dodson and Linda Greene. Performed by Bailey Hefley.

All the pretty girls looking in the mirror
Crying black mascara rain
Cause of some pretty boy’s sweet words
That don’t mean anything
Girl you thought you were the only one
Gave your heart up to a hit and run
Now you’re thinking you’re not good enough
But you’re good enough
You were good enough

You’re a diamond
You were trying to shine for a blind man
Wasting all your pretty and your tears on a man who was picking up pennies
With a dime in his hand baby don’t spend any more
Time on tryna figure out whatcha did wrong
I know you thought it was love
But it was lying, that boy was dust
Dust on a diamond

All the broken girls picking up the pieces
From the mess he left you in
Trying to stop your heart from beating so you never fall again
He ain’t gonna be the end of you
He’s just something that you’re going through
One day you’re gonna know that it’s true
That you’re good enough
He wasn’t good enough

You’re a diamond
You were trying to shine for a blind man
Wasting all your pretty and your tears on a man who was picking up pennies
With a dime in his hand baby don’t spend any more
Time on tryna figure out whatcha did wrong
I know you thought it was love
But it was lying, that boy was dust
Dust on a diamond

Get up stand up shake the dust right off your shoulders
Hold head your head up girl you’re better off it’s over (woah)

You’re a diamond
You were trying to shine for a blind man
Wasting all your pretty and your tears on a man who was picking up pennies
With a dime in his hand baby don’t spend any more
Time on tryna figure out whatcha did wrong
I know you thought it was love
But it was lying, that boy was dust
Dust on a diamond

Oh you were dust
Yeah you were
You were

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

NASA to Explore 'Psyche 16,' a Precious-Metal Asteroid Worth $10,000 Quadrillion

NASA is gearing up for a 2022 mission to "Psyche 16," an asteroid containing enough precious metal to make everyone on Earth a billionaire. Located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, Psyche 16's natural resources, which include gold, platinum, iron and nickel, are estimated to be worth $10,000 quadrillion. Written out, that number is $10,000 followed by 15 zeros.

Before you start wondering what you might do with your billion-dollar bounty, consider the fact that NASA's mission to Psyche 16 is strictly scientific. The space agency has no immediate plans to do any mining and the asteroid is way too large to tow back to Earth.

The traditional earth-bound mining community is wondering out loud what would happen to commodity prices if a huge influx of space gold and platinum suddenly hit the market?

It's also hard to imagine how $10,000 quadrillion in new wealth would merge into a world economy that's estimated to be worth a mere $75.5 trillion.

The space agency and its university partners are excited to explore Psyche 16 because it appears to be stripped to its core — a core made of solid metal. Scientists wonder whether Psyche could be the exposed core of an early planet, perhaps the size of Mars, that lost its rocky outer layers due to violent collisions that occurred while the solar system was forming.

Measuring about 140 miles (226 km) in diameter, Psyche 16 is named after the nymph Psyche, who, according to Roman mythology, married Cupid but was put to death by Venus. At Cupid's request, Jupiter — the king of the Gods — made Psyche immortal. The unique metal asteroid was discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis.

The space agency is set to launch the Psyche spacecraft in 2022 from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. It will arrive at the asteroid in 2026.

While NASA is not looking to capitalize on the precious metal bounty that Psyche 16 could yield, two space mining companies — Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources — are both looking at smaller, nearby asteroids that could be rich in precious metals.

Credits: Renderings courtesy of SSL/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Julian Edelman and His Three Super Bowl Rings Appear on 'The Late Show'

Super Bowl LIII MVP Julian Edelman gave the four million viewers of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert a close-up look at his three championship rings in a light-hearted segment that nearly resulted in the host keeping the one that got hung up on the knuckle of his left middle finger.

The New England Patriots' wide receiver — looking relaxed minus his signature caveman beard — was all set to talk about a brand new Showtime documentary about his life called 100%: Julian Edelman, but of primary interest to Colbert was the bounty of Super Bowl jewelry Edelman had brought along.

"We have a heavy satchel," said Colbert as he revealed a leather bag that had been hidden behind his desk. He gingerly opened the bag, extracted three ginormous diamond-embellished rings and then stood them up vertically so the TV cameras could focus on them.

The largest of the three rings features 422 diamonds weighing 8.25 carats and 20 blue sapphires totaling 1.60 carats. Edelman and the rest of the New England Patriots were awarded their Super Bowl LIII rings last month during a private ceremony at the home of Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The newest rings have the distinction of being the biggest and blingiest ever created for any team of any sport.

Colbert couldn't resist trying on the rings that represent Patriots' victories in Super Bowls XLIX, LI and LIII.

"I could wear these around my neck," the host joked, implying that they were the size of necklaces, not rings.

Running with the same theme, Colbert asked Edelman, "Do you need to go to the gym? Or do you just curl with these on?"

Then Colbert asked the fearless clutch receiver if he had a favorite of the three.

"Yeah, the next one," Edelman said half-jokingly. The Patriots have earned six Super Bowl titles, a record the team shares with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Colbert easily slipped the oversize rings off his right hand, but the one on the middle finger of his left hand wouldn't budge. Colbert pulled it and twisted it, but it wouldn't come off.

"Sorry, it's mine now," the host joked. Eventually, he managed to get it loose.

Colbert's final question about the rings was a simple one.

"Where do you keep them?" asked the host.

"I have a couple of secret stashes. Pretty much like Fort Knox," said Edelman, comparing the amount of security needed to keep his Super Bowl bounty safe to the depository in Kentucky where the bulk of the nation's gold bullion is kept.

The Showtime documentary 100%: Julian Edelman explores how the undersized, underdog receiver overcame a major injury and other setbacks to become a Super Bowl MVP.

Check out the full segment by clicking the video below...

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com/The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.