Music Friday: Meghan Trainor Dreams in Silver and Gold in 2015’s ‘Like I’m Gonna Lose You’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today we feature Meghan Trainor performing “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” a chart-topping, jazzy ballad about never taking loved ones for granted and always making the most of life’s precious moments. The song's official YouTube video boasts 696 million views.

In the first verse, Trainor sings, “I found myself dreaming in silver and gold / Like a scene from a movie that every broken heart knows / We were walking on moonlight and you pulled me close / Split second and you disappeared and then I was all alone.”

Trainer, who co-wrote the song with Justin Weaver and Caitlyn Smith, explained to Digital Spy that the impassioned song was spawned by an all-too-real nightmare.

“[‘Like I’m Gonna Lose You’ has] very emotional lyrics that take you to a real place,” she said. “You know when you have those nightmares that your brother or sister or boyfriend just dies? And you wake up sweating and crying, and then you have to go check on them to make sure they’re still alive, and they are. And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, thank God.’ It’s like, I’m going to love you like I’m going to lose you because I know what it feels like from that dream and I’m not going to let it happen.”

Released as the fourth single from her chart-topping 2015 album, Title, “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” charted in 16 countries, including the #1 position on both the US Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and the Canada AC Billboard chart.

The song was originally intended to be a solo recording, but Trainor and her management team presented her demo to John Legend, who reportedly told Trainor, “I love this, I want to be a part of it. It’s gonna be cool.” The result is a beautiful collaboration between two of the music industry’s brightest talents.

The music video depicts Trainor staring through the window of a candlelit room as the rain pours outside. Legend sings his part from the outside of the building, separated from Trainor by a paned-glass wall. Interspersed are scenes of companions standing in the rain. Among them are a mother and infant child, a homeless man and his dog, a woman and her elderly mother, a man on crutches and his girlfriend, and a soaked-to-the-skin Legend, who plays Trainor’s love interest.

In the end, the sun breaks out, the sky brightens and Trainor and Legend join hands as if to symbolize a love that has conquered all.

Born on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket to retail jewelers Kelli and Gary Trainor, Meghan started singing at age six and wrote her first song at age 11. She attended Berklee College of Music and released two acoustic albums in 2011.

The 27-year-old’s big break came in February 2014, when she performed “All About the Bass” on ukulele for L.A. Reid, the chairman and CEO of Epic Records. That resulted in a recording contract and a monumental rise to stardom.

Please enjoy Trainor and Legend performing “Like I’m Gonna Lose You.” The lyrics are included if you’d like to sing along.

“Like I’m Gonna Lose You”
Written by Meghan Trainor, Justin Weaver, Caitlyn Smith. Performed by Meghan Trainor, featuring John Legend.

I found myself dreaming in silver and gold
Like a scene from a movie that every broken heart knows
We were walking on moonlight and you pulled me close
Split second and you disappeared and then I was all alone

I woke up in tears
With you by my side
A breath of relief
And I realized
No, we’re not promised tomorrow

So I’m gonna love you
Like I’m gonna lose you
I’m gonna hold you
Like I’m saying goodbye wherever we’re standing
I won’t take you for granted ’cause we’ll never know when
When we’ll run out of time so I’m gonna love you
Like I’m gonna lose you
I’m gonna love you like I’m gonna lose you

In the blink of an eye
Just a whisper of smoke
You could lose everything
The truth is you never know

So I’ll kiss you longer baby
Any chance that I get
I’ll make the most of the minutes and love with no regrets

Let’s take our time
To say what we want
Use what we got
Before it’s all gone
‘Cause no, we’re not promised tomorrow

So I’m gonna love you
Like I’m gonna lose you
I’m gonna hold you
Like I’m saying goodbye wherever we’re standing
I won’t take you for granted ’cause we’ll never know when
When we’ll run out of time so I’m gonna love you
Like I’m gonna lose you
I’m gonna love you like I’m gonna lose you

Hey
Whoa

I’m gonna love you
Like I’m gonna lose you
I’m gonna hold you
Like I’m saying goodbye wherever we’re standing
I won’t take you for granted ’cause we’ll never know when
When we’ll run out of time so I’m gonna love you
Like I’m gonna lose you
I’m gonna love you like I’m gonna lose you

Credits: Screen capture via Youtube.com / Meghan Trainor.

Crystals That Sparked South African 'Diamond Rush' Are Identified as Quartz

In the world of fine gemstones, looks can sometimes be deceiving. This was the hard lesson learned by 3,000 fortune seekers who descended on Ladysmith, South Africa, early last week after a cattle herder stumbled upon a large clear crystal that appeared to be a diamond.

The resulting "diamond rush" was supported by the fact that South Africa has been a world leader in diamond production for the past 150 years. The country currently hosts seven major diamond mines and generates more than 7 million carats per year. In fact, the largest diamond ever discovered — the 3,106-carat Cullinan — was unearthed in 1905 about 400km northwest of Ladysmith, near Pretoria.

Armed with picks and shovels, people from across the country rushed to the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, where a 50-hectare (123-acre) search area became a field of dreams.

Sadly, those dreams were dashed when a local official announced on Sunday that the rare "diamonds" of Ladysmith were merely quartz crystals.

“The tests conducted conclusively revealed that the stones discovered in the area are not diamonds as some had hoped,” said Ravi Pillay, a provincial executive council member for economic development and tourism.

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral on planet Earth, just behind feldspar. The quartz crystals mined at the site in Ladysmith carried little or no value.

While most of the amateur miners packed up their belongings and headed home, about 500 stayed on the site, convinced that the stones had real value and that the government officials may not have been telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Pillay said that the search area posed a threat to grazing cattle because it was pocked with numerous holes, some as deep as one meter.

Credit: Image by Michael J. Stahl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This 1,098-Carat Gem-Quality Rough Diamond Ranks Among the Largest of All Time

Debswana unveiled on Wednesday a three-inch-tall, 1,098-carat, gem-quality rough diamond discovered at its Jwaneng mine in Botswana. Estimated to be worth more than $55 million, the gem ranks fourth on Wikipedia's list of the largest rough diamonds of all time.

Debswana's acting managing director Lynette Armstrong presented the stone to Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Wednesday. About the size of a tennis ball, the frosty-white gem measures 73mm (2.87in) long, 52mm (2.04in) wide and 27mm (1.06in) thick. Discovered on June 1, it's the largest diamond ever recovered by the mining company, which has been operating for more than 50 years.

Interestingly, four of the top five rough diamonds on the Wikipedia list were sourced in Botswana, a tiny African nation that is one of the world’s leading producers of top-quality diamonds. Botswana’s Karowe mine was the source of the 1,758-carat Sewelô (#2, 2019), the 1,109-carat Lesedi la Rona (#3, 2015) and a 998-carat unnamed stone (#5, 2020). At the top of the list is the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered in South Africa in 1905.

The exciting thing about massive rough diamonds is that they are often transformed into incredibly large finished diamonds. For example, gems cut from the Cullinan Diamond include the Cullinan I (530.20 carats) and the Cullinan II (317.4 carats).

Back in April 2019, luxury jeweler Laurence Graff revealed the principle diamond cut from the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona. The 302.37-carat square emerald-cut stunner was believed to be the largest D-flawless gem ever certified by the Gemological Institute of America. Also cut from that large rough were 67 “satellite” diamonds ranging in size from just under 1 carat to more than 100 carats.

Debswana, which is a joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government, has yet to determine how its 1,098-carat gem will be sold. It might go through the De Beers channel or via the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company. It will be exciting to see if the principle diamond from this stone will weigh 300 carats or more.

Just last month, we reported that Debswana is committed to spending $6 billion on a massive project that will extend by 20 years the lifespan of Jwaneng, which is widely acknowledged as the world’s richest diamond mine. When it reaches full capacity in 2034, Jwaneng will be generating 9 million carats per year. Since 1982, Jwaneng has been an open-pit mine, but the next phase of its operations will see the company channeling underground.

Diamonds are Botswana’s main source of income and account for about 80% of its exports.

Credit: Image via Facebook.com/Debswana Diamond Company.