Music Friday: Bonnie Raitt Sings, 'Blame It on Stars Strung Like Jewels From Here to Mars'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bonnie Raitt compares the stars in the night sky to a fantastical gemstone necklace in her brand new release, "Blame It on Me."

She sings, "Blame it on stars / Shining like headlights from a million cars / Strung like jewels from here to Mars / Blame it on stars."

In the song, Raitt tells the story of a woman of advancing age contending with a drifting lover. Her ex-boyfriend is blaming her for the breakup, but she wonders whether the relationship has been a victim of uncontrollable factors, like the stars or the passage of time.

But at the end of the song she predicts, "But one summer night / When my door is open and the moon is new / And some sad melody comes stealing through / And my heart should break in two / If my heart should break in two / Oh baby, ooh / Oh baby, I’m gonna blame it on you / Blame it on you."

"Blame It on Me" was released in April as the 7th track from Raitt's new album titled Just Like That… on the artist's own Redwing label.

“On this record, I wanted to stretch,” Raitt said in a statement. “I always want to find songs that excite me, and what’s different this time is that I’ve tried some styles and topics I haven’t touched on before.”

She added, “I’m really aware of how lucky I am and I feel like it’s my responsibility to get out there and say something fresh and new — for me and for the fans. But I need to have something to say or I won’t put out a record.”

Raitt delivered an intimate, soulful, live performance of the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this past Wednesday. The show was seen by an estimated 3.5 million viewers.

The 72-year-old rocker is also promoting the album on her current seven-month tour, which includes stops in 69 cities from coast to coast.

A 10-time Grammy winner, Raitt rated 50th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and 89th on the magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Please check out the video of Raitt's live performance of "Blame It on Me" on The Late Show. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Blame It on Me"
Written by John Capek and Andrew Matheson. Performed by Bonnie Raitt.

Blame it on me
Hold up my faults for all to see
Truth is love’s first casualty
Blame it on me

Blame it on me
It’s not the way love is supposed to be
How can you so casually
Blame it on me

Blame it on stars
Shining like headlights from a million cars
Strung like jewels from here to Mars
Blame it on stars

Blame it on time
The fugitive, the vagabond, it’s the perfect crime
Poured like sand through your hands and mine
Blame it on time

How can you talk that way?
Just turn around and walk away
Your words, they sting so heartlessly
So go ahead, be free, blame it all on me

But one summer night
When my door is open and the moon is new
And some sad melody comes stealing through
And my heart should break in two

If my heart should break in two
Oh baby, ooh
Oh baby, I’m gonna blame it on you
Blame it on you

I’ll blame it on you, baby

Credit: Screen capture via Youtube.com / The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Mastercard Survey: Jewelry Sales Growth Continues to Outpace All Other Sectors

Jewelry continues to outperform all other retail sectors, according to statistics released by Mastercard SpendingPulse. Jewelry sales in May of 2022 were up 22.3% compared to May 2021.

When comparing May's performance with pre-pandemic levels, the numbers are even more impressive. Retail jewelry sales for May 2022 grew 65.4% compared to May of 2019, the strongest three-year gain of any retail sector.

“The continued retail sales momentum in May aligns with the sustained growth rates we’ve seen so far this year,” said Michelle Meyer, U.S. Chief Economist, Mastercard Economics Institute. “The consumer has been resilient, spending on goods and increasingly services as the economy continues to rebalance."

Mastercard SpendingPulse reported that total U.S. retail sales, excluding automotive, increased 10.5% year-over-year in May, and 21.4% compared to pre-pandemic May 2019. In-store sales were a key driver, up 13.7% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The jewelry sector has been riding a year-long wave of impressive sales data. Last summer Mastercard singled out “jewelry” as the fastest growing retail sector, with July 2021 sales jumping a whopping 54.2% compared to pre-pandemic July 2019 levels.

In December, the jewelry sector was highlighted again when Mastercard emphasized how “smaller boxes had a big impact” during the holiday season. Jewelry sales soared 32% during the period that spanned November 1 through December 24.

Mastercard SpendingPulse™ reports on US retail sales across all payment types. The findings are based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and check.

Credits: Shopper image by Bigstockphoto.com. Table courtesy of Mastercard SpendingPulse.

'Great American Diamonds' Take Center Stage at Smithsonian's Newest Exhibit

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History just unveiled "Great American Diamonds," a new exhibit showcasing four of the most stunning diamonds ever found in the United States.

Some of the new gems going on display are record holders, including the Freedom Diamond, the largest faceted diamond ever to originate in the United States, and the Uncle Sam Diamond, an emerald-cut stone fashioned from the largest uncut American diamond ever discovered.

For decades, the Uncle Sam Diamond was feared to have been lost before recently resurfacing in a private collection. This is the first time the Uncle Sam Diamond has been on public display in more than 50 years.

These precious gemstones hail from the only two diamond mines that have operated in the United States: Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds (1919–1926) and Colorado’s Kelsey Lake Mine (1996–2001). Together, these sites produced tens of thousands of carats of rough diamonds.

“Most people are surprised to learn that diamonds have been mined in the United States, and as the national museum, we are delighted to introduce these great American diamonds to our visitors,” said mineralogist Jeffrey Post, the museum’s curator-in-charge of gems and minerals.

The flawless 12.4-carat pinkish-brown Uncle Sam Diamond was cut from a crystal weighing a whopping 40.23 carats. The rough gem was discovered at Crater of Diamonds in 1924, making it the largest faceted diamond ever discovered in the Arkansas mine.

The cushion-cut Freedom Diamond, which is now set in a ring, was fashioned from a 28-carat diamond crystal discovered at the Kelsey Lake Mine in 1997.

These American diamonds join the Smithsonian’s National Gem and Mineral Collection, the world’s most visited collection of gems, thanks to gifts by Peter Buck (Uncle Sam Diamond) and Robert E. and Kathy G. Mau (Freedom Diamond). The national collection contains more than 10,000 precious stones and pieces of jewelry, including the iconic Hope Diamond.

“Amazingly, the Uncle Sam and Freedom diamonds were donated to our national collection within a month of each other,” Post said. “The generosity of the donors ensure that these great Earth treasures will forever belong to the people of the United States, and the world.”

In “Great American Diamonds,” the two new gems will be displayed alongside two additional American diamonds from the museum’s collection.

Unearthed in Arkansas, the “Canary Diamond” is a golden-yellow gem crystal weighing nearly 18 carats. This stone is one of the largest uncut diamond crystals from Arkansas. It was discovered in 1917 and acquired by famed civil engineer and mineral collector Washington Roebling, whose son donated it to the Smithsonian nearly a century ago.

Originating in Colorado, the 6.5-carat Colorado Diamond Crystal displays the typical eight-sided (octahedral) shape of natural diamond crystals.

Despite the beauty of the diamonds they produced, neither American mine proved to be commercially successful, causing each to close after less than a decade of operation.

That does not mean that the United States is devoid of diamonds. The Arkansas site where the Uncle Sam Diamond was found has been refashioned into Crater of Diamonds State Park, one of the world’s only diamond-bearing sites accessible to the public. The search area at the park is actually a plowed field atop the eroded surface of an extinct, diamond-bearing volcanic pipe. Visitors have found more than 33,100 diamonds since the Crater of Diamonds opened as an Arkansas State Park in 1972.

During an average year, amateur treasure hunters discover and get to keep roughly 600 new diamonds, potentially unearthing the next “Great American Diamond.”

Credit: Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.