Music Friday: Billy Joel Leaves a Life of Pearls and Caviar in 'I’ve Loved These Days'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In 1976, music legend Billy Joel said goodbye to Hollywood and returned to a New York state of mind. His wistful farewell to an L.A. lifestyle of fine jewelry, silk robes and caviar is chronicled in the beautiful, but unheralded, “I’ve Loved These Days.”

Joel sings, “Now as we indulge in things refined / We hide our hearts from harder times / A string of pearls, a foreign car / Oh we can only go so far / On caviar and cabernet.”

“The song is essentially one man’s farewell to a lifestyle that is as alluring as it is unsustainable,” wrote Jim Beviglia in his 2012 review in American Songwriter.

“I’ve Loved These Days” made its debut as the seventh track of Turnstiles, Joel’s fourth studio album. It appeared again 24 years later as the eighth track on disc one of 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert. Although it never was released as a single, Joel continues to perform “I’ve Loved These Days” to sold-out concert audiences.

(Trivia: The working title of "I've Loved These Days" was "These Rhinestone Days." You can check out the rare audio track of the demo at the end of this post.)

Turnstiles marked a critical turning point in Joel’s career — a time when he started to take control of his creative process.

“I produced it myself, which, in hindsight, was probably not a good idea,” Joel told WNYC, “but I didn’t want people telling me what band to work with, how to do the songs. I wanted to do it my way.”

The cover photo of the Turnstiles album features an esoteric cast of characters posing at the Astor Place subway station in New York City. Each character is linked with one of the songs from the album. The wealthy couple represents “I’ve Loved These Days” and, specifically, the life he left behind in Los Angeles.

The 72-year-old Joel, who was born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, is one of the most prolific and successful recording artists of all time, with more than 160 million records sold worldwide. Boasting 33 Top 40 hits and 23 Grammy nominations, Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

Please check out Joel’s live performance of “I’ve Loved These Days” from 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert, a two-disc set that was recorded on New Year’s Eve 1999 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“I’ve Loved These Days”
Written and performed by Billy Joel.

Now we take our time, so nonchalant
And spend our nights so bon vivant
We dress our days in silken robes
The money comes
The money goes
We know it’s all a passing phase

We light our lamps for atmosphere
And hang our hopes on chandeliers
We’re going wrong, we’re gaining weight
We’re sleeping long and far too late
And so it’s time to change our ways
But I’ve loved these days

Now as we indulge in things refined
We hide our hearts from harder times
A string of pearls, a foreign car
Oh we can only go so far
On caviar and cabernet

We drown our doubts in dry champagne
And soothe our souls with fine cocaine
I don’t know why I even care
We’ll get so high and get nowhere
We’ll have to change our jaded ways
But I’ve loved these days

So before we end and then begin
We’ll drink a toast to how it’s been
A few more hours to be complete
A few more nights on satin sheets
A few more times that I can say
I’ve loved these days

"These Rhinestone Days" (Demo)

Credits: Photo (top) by Rob Mieremet / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Album cover by Columbia Records.

Copper-Flecked Inclusions Give Oregon Sunstones Their Unique 'Schiller'

Oregon Sunstones are truly unique because they contain tiny flecks of copper that give the stones a reddish-to-golden metallic sheen called "schiller." Sunstones exist in other parts of the world but, oddly, only the ones from Oregon contain copper.

In a nine-minute “Oregon Field Guide” video produced by the Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), geologist Emily Cahoon describes her mission to unravel the mysteries behind Oregon's official state gemstone.

In 2016, the volcanologist, geochemist and igneous petrologist stumbled upon Oregon's Ponderosa Mine, one of the world's primary sources of Oregon Sunstones.

At first, she was thrilled like a kid in a candy store.

“I saw these sunstones and was like ‘This is so cool!'" she said.

But then, as she did more research, she was shocked to learn that the scientific community really didn't know how the gems formed, even at the most basic level.

She wondered: If the gems get their schiller from inclusions of copper, did the copper enter the crystal when it was forming or at some later time?

Cahoon dated the lava flows of the flood basalt where Oregon Sunstones are found. Surprisingly, the gems embedded in the lava turned out to be younger than the lava itself — and that really didn't make sense.

She's also trying to noodle out the connection between copper and sunstone, which is a shimmery variety of labradorite that is found very specifically in the state's Columbia River Flood Basalts.

"Copper shouldn't want to go into labradorite," she said. "There's so much to learn still."

As a research associate at Oregon State University, Cahoon is working to understand how sunstones fit into the volcanic history of Oregon and the Columbia River basalts.

"But, also, just being basically on the cutting edge of how a gemstone forms is incredible and just a lot of fun," she told OPB.

Oregon Sunstone is a member of the feldspar family, a mineral that makes up more than half of the Earth’s crust. Oregon Sunstones are found in a wide range in hues, from yellow and green to red and pink. They also can be colorless or multicolored.

Here are some Oregon Sunstone specimens from the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection. The pendant at the far right was designed and carved by Nancy Chan and Greg Fraser. The center sunstone, “Spitfire,” weighs 4.53 carats and was faceted by Paul Paulson. The sunstones at the far left, “Eternal Flight,” weigh 174 carats and were carved by Bobbie Lorett.

Please check out the OPB video below…

Credit: Photo at top via Astynax, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Screen capture of Emily Cahoon via OPG.com (Oregon Public Broadcasting). Photo at bottom by Ken Larsen / Smithsonian.

Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles Wears a Stand-In Engagement Ring at the Gym

Newly engaged Simone Biles revealed in an Instagram Story that she wears a stand-in engagement ring during her rigorous workouts at the gym.

The simple, white silicone ring is punctuated by a petite full-cut diamond set in a bezel of 14-karat white gold.

“Okay HOW CUTE," the 25-year-old captioned a closeup shot of her new bling. "So I can work out & not damage my engagement ring.” She punctuated the post with two white heart emojis and a silly face.

On Valentine's Day, the seven-time Olympic medalist received a 3-carat oval-cut diamond engagement ring from Houston Texans free safety Jonathan Owens. The VVS2, F-color center stone was prong-set on a three-row, micro-pavé diamond band and is estimated to be worth approximately $300,000.

Biles had announced her engagement via Instagram with a series of proposal photos and a caption that read, “THE EASIEST YES. I can’t wait to spend forever & ever with you, you’re everything I dreamed of and more! let’s get married FIANCÉ.”

Four days after her engagement, Biles told the audience of The Today Show how much she loved her new ring.

“It’s definitely my most prized possession now and I’m always wearing it,” she declared during a Zoom-style interview. “It definitely beats a gold medal.”

She went on to admit that she had to consult her mom about whether she should ever take the ring off.

Biles explained, “I was washing my hair the other day and I took it off, just in case — I didn’t know if it was gonna get caught or anything — and I have to ask my mom, ‘When do you take it off, do you ever take it off?’ and stuff like that.”

Silicone rings have become popular choice for people who want to keep their bridal jewelry safe during physical activities. The silicon stand-in is pliable, durable, easy to clean and comfortable — especially when lifting weights, climbing and swimming.

Credits: Screen capture via Instagram.com / simonebiles.