Music Friday: Disney's Luisa Flattens Diamonds and Platinum in 'Surface Pressure'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun, new songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Disney heroine Luisa Madrigal — voiced by Jessica Darrow — is so tough she can flatten not only the world's hardest substance, but also its most durable precious metal in "Surface Pressure," a big hit from the studio's animated musical film, Encanto.

Luisa sings, "I don’t ask how hard the work is / Got a rough, indestructible surface / Diamonds and platinum. I find them, I flatten them / I take what I’m handed, I break what’s demanded."

Encanto, which features a soundtrack penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, tells the story of the magical Madrigal family, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia.

Luisa and all but one Madrigal child — the film's protagonist, Mirabel — are bestowed with special powers. In the case of Luisa, her super-human strength is both a blessing and a curse. She's had to shoulder such heavy burdens for so long that she's now suffering an emotional meltdown.

In the song, the overtly confident character lets down her guard and admits that she's really not sure how long she will be able to hold it together.

She sings, "Pressure like a drip, drip, drip / That’ll never stop, whoa-oh! / Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip / ’Til you just go pop, whoa-oh! Oh!"

Miranda, who is best known for creating the Broadway musical Hamilton (2015), said in an interview with Variety magazine that he wrote "Surface Pressure" as a tribute to his older sister, Luz Miranda-Crespo.

"That song is my love letter and apology to my sister. I watched my sister deal with the pressure of being the oldest and carrying burdens I never had to carry," he said. "I put all of that angst and all of those moments into Luisa."

In Encanto, the superpowers of the special Madrigal children become depleted and it's up to Mirabel, the only "ordinary" child, to save the day.

"Surface Pressure" was released November of 2021 as the third track of the Encanto soundtrack. The song charted in nine countries, including a #8 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Surface Pressure" was the second song from the soundtrack to hit the Top 10 on the US chart. The other was "We Don't Talk About Bruno."

The 27-year-old Darrow got her big break when she was cast as Sarah in the 2018 film, Feast of the Seven Fishes. Darrow fans can see her performing a jazzy version of "Surface Pressure" on her YouTube channel.

Please check out the animated video of Luisa, voiced by Darrow, singing "Surface Pressure." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Surface Pressure"
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Performed by Jessica Darrow.

I’m the strong one. I’m not nervous
I’m as tough as the crust of the Earth is
I move mountains. I move churches
And I glow, ‘cause I know what my worth is

I don’t ask how hard the work is
Got a rough, indestructible surface
Diamonds and platinum. I find them, I flatten them
I take what I’m handed, I break what’s demanded. But…

Under the surface
I feel berserk as a tightrope walker
In a three-ring circus

Under the surface
Was Hercules ever like
“Yo, I don’t wanna fight Cerberus”?

Under the surface
I’m pretty sure I’m worthless
If I can’t be of service

A flaw or a crack, the straw in the stack
That breaks the camel’s back
What breaks the camel’s back? It’s…

Pressure like a drip, drip, drip
That’ll never stop, whoa-oh!
Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip
’Til you just go pop, whoa-oh! Oh!

Give it to your sister
Your sister’s older
Give her all the heavy things we can’t shoulder
Who am I if I can’t run with the ball?

If I fall to
Pressure like a grip, grip, grip
And it won’t let go, whoa-oh
Pressure like a tick, tick, tick
’Til it’s ready to blow, whoa-oh oh! oh

Give it to your sister
Your sister’s stronger
See if she can hang on a little longer
Who am I if I can’t carry it all?
If I falter

Under the surface
I hide my nerves and it worsens
I worry something is gonna hurt us

Under the surface
The ship doesn’t swerve
Has it heard how big the iceberg is?

Under the surface
I think about my purpose
Can I somehow preserve this?
Line up the dominoes, a light wind blows
You try to stop it toppling
But on and on it goes

But, wait.
If I could shake the crushing weight of expectations
Would that free some room up for joy
Or relaxation or simple pleasure?
Instead, we measure this growing pressure
Keeps growing, keep going
‘Cause all we know is…

Pressure like a drip, drip, drip
That’ll never stop, whoa
Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip
’til you just go pop, whoa-oh oh oh

Give it to your sister. It doesn’t hurt and
See if she can handle every family burden
Watch as she buckles and bends but never breaks
No mistakes, just…

Pressure like a grip, grip, grip
And it won’t let go, whoa-oh
Pressure like a tick, tick, tick
’Til it’s ready to blow, whoa-oh oh oh

Give it to your sister and never wonder
If the same pressure would’ve pulled you under
Who am I if I don’t have what it takes?
No cracks. No breaks
No mistakes
No pressure

Credit: Screen capture via Youtube.com / Jessica Darrow Official.

Vanderbilt Family's Summer Home Featured Platinum-Leaf Wall Decorations

In Anderson Cooper's bestselling book, Vanderbilt, about the unfathomable rags-to-riches-to-rags saga of one of the most famous families of America's Gilded Age, the journalist describes the extraordinary opulence of The Breakers, the 70-room, 138,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance-style palazzo that served as the Newport, RI, cliffside summer home for Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his family. Cornelius is Cooper's great-great grandfather.

In the book's Prologue, we learn that as one of the richest men in the world, Vanderbilt spared no expense in building what Cooper described as a "temple to Vanderbilt money and ambition." The $7 million Cornelius spent on the project from 1893 to 1895 was equivalent to $220 million in today's dollars.

In one passage that sparked our curiosity, Cooper — whose mom is the late Gloria Vanderbilt — described The Breakers' morning room walls as "paneled in platinum."

After a little digging, we learned via an excellent January 2007 article in the journal AIArchitect that within The Breakers' elegant morning room there are eight gleaming, distinctive leaf panels accenting all four corners of the room. The platinum decorations, which feature elements of Classical mythology, also overlap onto the ceiling panels.

Back in 2006, the chief conservator of The Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island, which now operates The Breakers, was curious to learn why the silvery metallic surfaces adorning the morning room hadn't tarnished in more than a century. Originally, the leaf was believed to be either silver, aluminum or tin.

The Society worked with the Delaware-based Winterthur Museum, which employed a non-invasive, state-of-the-art conservation technique to determine that the silver-colored leaf was, in fact, made of platinum. This noble metal, like gold, will not tarnish or oxidize.

“Silver-colored metals usually tarnish and degrade,” said Jeff Moore, chief conservator for The Preservation Society of Newport County, at the time. “I often wondered about this particular leaf and suspected it was not silver. I expected to discover it was aluminum."

Moore went on to describe how designers of that era would use tin or aluminum leaf and add a yellow varnish on top to make it look like gold.

"To find platinum up there in thin leaf form was really interesting," Moore added. "Even in the Modern Era you would be hard-pressed to find a platinum surface of any kind in favor of more inexpensive aluminum, copper or tin. Platinum is even more expensive than gold.”

(In January of 2007, platinum was priced at $1,130/ounce, compared to gold at $625/ounce.)

Moore explained that the use of platinum leaf during that period was virtually unheard of.

"There is almost no documentation of its use in architecture during the Gilded Age," he said.

When The Breakers was completed in 1895, Vanderbilt was president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad, the company his grandfather, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt had founded after making his first fortune in shipping.

The home remained in the Vanderbilt family through 1948, but the ever-increasing expenses related to maintaining an aging structure and 13 acres of landscaped grounds proved to be too overwhelming for a family that squandered its riches. They worked out a deal to lease the home to The Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 per year.

Today, the vision of Cornelius Vanderbilt II remains one of Rhode Island's most popular tourist destinations, with nearly 400,000 visitors each year. Tour tickets cost $24.

Credits: The Breakers image by UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Morning room images by Renata3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons and Renata3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Birthstone Feature: Rubies Have Been Coveted Since Biblical Times

Since biblical times, ruby has been one of the most revered and coveted gemstones on Earth. According to the Book of Exodus, July's official birthstone was one of the 12 gem varieties affixed to the Priestly Breastplate worn by Aaron (1396 BC - 1273 BC), elder brother of Moses. Each gem represented one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

In Indian culture, rubies have been mentioned in literature for more than 2,000 years. The Sanskrit word for ruby is "ratnaraj," which means "the king of gemstones." According to The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA), whenever a particularly beautiful ruby crystal was discovered, the Indian ruler would order high-level dignitaries to meet the precious gemstone and welcome it in appropriate style.

The ICA also noted that in the fascinating world of gemstones, the ruby is the undisputed ruler. This is because it has everything a precious stone should have: magnificent color, excellent hardness, outstanding brilliance and extreme rarity.

The ruby's rich, vibrant red color is an important part of its appeal, as it conveys love, romance and passion. On the mystical side, a ruby is said to promote health, wealth, wisdom, creativity, loyalty and courage.

The International Gem Society, wrote about how the ancient Burmese soldiers took rubies to battle because they believed the blood-red gem bestowed invulnerability. There was one proviso, however. Wearing a ruby as a piece of jewelry wasn’t good enough. The gems had to be physically inserted into their flesh to protect them from physical harm.

Ruby is a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Gemstone-quality corundum in all shades of red are generally called rubies. Corundum in other colors are called sapphires.

The word “ruby” comes from “ruber,” Latin for red. Pure corundum is colorless, but rubies get their color from slight traces of the element chromium in the gem's chemical composition. Ruby boasts a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale. Only diamonds are rated higher at 10.0.

The value of a ruby increases based on its color, cut, clarity and carat weight.

Since the late 15th century, Burma, particularly the region around Mogok, has been a vital source for high-quality rubies. The area, known as the “Valley of Rubies,” is regarded as the original source of pigeon’s blood rubies.

While Myanmar (formerly Burma) has earned the reputation for producing the finest rubies, the coveted red gems have also been mined in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In the U.S., rubies have been found in Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wyoming.

Credit: Photo by NMNH Photo Services / Smithsonian.