Music Friday: Marty Raybon Tells the Story of a Young Couple's 'Cracker Jack Diamond'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country music artist Marty Raybon tells the story of how a trivial prize in a box of caramel corn became a powerful symbol of a couple's eternal love.

In "Cracker Jack Diamond," Raybon describes a summer scene in a rural town, where a 14-year-old boy is trying to earn a few bucks by mowing lawns. The young man happens upon a property where the weeds are tall, and on the porch is a young girl eating ice cream. Instantly smitten, the young man digs into the pocket of his grass-stained jeans and pulls out some week-old caramel corn and a plastic ring. He places the ring on her finger and she is delighted.

Raybon sings, "Just like a Cracker Jack Diamond / You never know when your gonna find one / They found love from that day on / The hand of fate put them together / Their hearts will stay forever young / Like a Cracker Jack Diamond."

Five years later, the young man — now 19 years old — has saved up enough money to pay for the preacher and a diamond ring. He takes his girlfriend to the same porch where they met and she accepts his marriage proposal.

Later in the song, the couple is now elderly, but the woman still has a fondness for the Cracker Jack Diamond.

Raybon sings, "Once a year she takes it out but it don't fit her hand / She wears it in her heart / That's where it all began."

(For more than a century, Cracker Jack fans, young and old, have been excited to find the prize buried in their box of caramel corn. Over time, these prizes have included plastic figurines, booklets, stickers, temporary tattoos and... rings.)

"Cracker Jack Diamond" was released in 2000 and appeared on the artist's solo album titled, Marty Raybon (2000). The song reached #63 on U.S. Billboard Country chart.

Raybon is best known as the frontman and lead singer for the country band Shenandoah, which he founded in Muscle Shoals, Ala., in 1984. In 1997, he left the band to pursue a solo career, but rejoined Shenandoah in 2014. Raybon, now 60, continues to tour actively. The band will be making appearances in Nashville, Tenn.; Milwaukee, Wisc.; Vero Beach, Fla.; Annapolis, Md.; Granger, Texas; Greenville, Texas; Indio, Calif.; Dunlap, Tenn.; Fort Myers, Fla.; and Fulton, Mo.

Billed as Shenandoah Featuring Marty Raybon, the band has released nine studio albums and charted 26 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Trivia: Cracker Jack was introduced in 1896 with the slogan, "The More You Eat The More You Want."

Please check out the video of Raybon's performance of "Cracker Jack Diamond." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Cracker Jack Diamond"
Written by Ronny Scaife and Neil Thrasher. Performed by Marty Raybon.

Well he spent that summer walkin' door to door
With a can of gas and an ol' lawn mower
That's a sure fire way to make a buck when you're 14

Well he walked the block with no luck at all
Then he spotted a place where the weeds were tall
With a young girl sitting on the front porch eating' ice cream

Deep in the pocket of his grass stained jeans
Was some caramel corn and a plastic ring
Leftover from the week before
Momma didn't wash them thank the lord

Just like a Cracker Jack Diamond,
You never know when your gonna find one
They found love from that day on
The hand of fate put them together,
Their hearts will stay forever young
Like a Cracker Jack Diamond

Well it's been five years since he gave her his prize
Now the sparkle's gone, but not in their eyes
And he's wanting to tell her what's been on his mind lately

He said, girl I ain't rich but I've been saving up
A little ever day 'til I had enough
Before he could finished she said, you know I will baby

Deep in the pocket of his holey jeans
Was money for the preacher and a diamond ring
He took her back to that old front porch
Slipped it on her finger and he thanked the Lord

Just like a Cracker Jack Diamond,
You never know when your gonna find one
They found love from that day on
The hand of fate put them together,
Their hearts will stay forever young
Like a Cracker Jack Diamond

Once a year she takes it out but it don't fit her hand
She wears it in her heart
That's where it all began

Just like a Cracker Jack Diamond,
You never know when your gonna find one
They found love from that day on
The hand of fate put them together,
Their hearts will stay forever young
Like a Cracker Jack Diamond...

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Soft Drink Giant Is Giving Away an Engagement Diamond Lab-Grown From Crystal Pepsi

The 1.53-carat diamond at the center of Pepsi's Engagement Ring Giveaway was formed in a lab with carbon derived from its short-lived spinoff, Crystal Pepsi.

Soft-drink fans may remember that Pepsi tested the crystal clear version of its ubiquitous carbonated beverage in 1992, and then pulled the plug on the nationwide rollout a year later. Crystal Pepsi (basically regular Pepsi without the caramel coloring) was revived in limited releases from 2015 through 2018.

For this promotion, the folks from Pepsi claim to have boiled down Crystal Pepsi "to its most basic carbon form," resulting in a powder that was used to create a lab-grown diamond.

Set in platinum, the truly one-of-a-kind round brilliant-cut diamond will soon adorn the left hand of the contest winner's significant other, just in time for National Proposal Day, which takes place on March 20. Pepsi says the ring is valued at $3,000.

On Pepsi's official Twitter page, the company wrote: "Propose how you’d propose for a chance to do it with The Pepsi Engagement Ring - the only ring made with real Crystal Pepsi. Really."

Contestants must tweet their proposal, along with up to four photos and one 30-second video, using the Twitter handle @Pepsi, and the hashtags #PepsiProposal and #Contest.

The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges based on originality, quality and marketability appeal.

“How do you make your passion clear to the one you love most?” the company stated in a 34-second promotional video that was posted to Twitter. “You could propose with the thing you love most: Pepsi.”

The romantic clip, which features newly engaged couples, ends with a closeup of the Crystal Pepsi rock and the tagline, “A ring with taste.”

The contest runs through March 6 and a winner will be selected during the week of March 16.

Credit: Image courtesy of Pepsi.

172-Carat Parallelogram-Shaped Amethyst With 'Staircase Cut' Resides at Smithsonian

One of the world’s most unusual examples of February’s birthstone is this 172.23-carat parallelogram-shaped amethyst that boasts a fancy "staircase cut" on the pavilion. (That's the slanted lower portion of the gem just below the girdle).

Sourced at Hallelujah Junction, Nev., just 30 miles north of Reno, this impressive stone is the first from that locality to join the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The Smithsonian's mineral and gem collection consists of approximately 350,000 mineral specimens and 10,000 gems, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world.

While amethysts traditionally have been sourced in Brazil, Uruguay, Zambia, Mexico, Italy and Germany, the U.S. and Canada are also credited with producing some of the finest-quality purple stones.

Amethyst is the most coveted variety of quartz, which is clear in its pure state. Amethyst gets is purple color from a few atoms of iron displacing some of the silicon in the gem’s molecular structure. These traces of iron can give amethyst a wide range of colors, from almost white to deep purple.

Coveted for thousands of years, Amethyst is one of the oldest recorded gemstones. They’ve been recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs and were prized by the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians and Hebrews.

Amethyst gets its name from the Greek word “amethystos,” which literally means “not to intoxicate.” Apparently, the Greeks believed amethyst could reverse the effects of drunkenness. Medieval soldiers wore amethyst to protect themselves in battle. Other cultures believed February’s birthstone would bring good fortune, inspire their intellect, heal their illnesses or bolster their immune systems.

The color rating of an amethyst is determined by its hue, tone and saturation. Hue is the color; tone is relative lightness or darkness of the color; and saturation relates to the color’s intensity, from dull to vivid.

Credit: Photo by Greg Polley / Smithsonian.