Music Friday: Bruce Springsteen Knows 'Jersey Girl' Will Someday Wear His Ring

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, music legend Bruce Springsteen performs “Jersey Girl,” a tender ballad about a working-class New York City guy who falls head-over-heels in love with a gal from New Jersey. The smitten Springsteen has no time to hang out with the boys because, tonight, he's gonna take that ride across the river to the Jersey side.

He sings, “You know she thrills me with all her charms / When I’m wrapped up in my baby’s arms / My little girl gives me everything / I know that someday she’ll wear my ring.”

When Springsteen released “Jersey Girl” as the B-side to his 1984 hit “Cover Me,” it was already a fan favorite. Three years earlier, he began performing it during encores of his River Tour. The song generated so much emotion from the concertgoers that it became a set list staple — frequently opening or closing his shows. “Jersey Girl” was selected as the final track of Springsteen’s 1986 box set Live/1975-85 and was the final song performed by Springsteen at New Jersey’s Giants Stadium before its demolition in 2009.

The Boss’s fans may be surprised to learn that even though Springsteen was born in Colts Neck, NJ, and his rocker wife, Patti Scialfa, was born in Deal, NJ, “Jersey Girl” was actually penned by Californian Tom Waits in 1980. Waits revealed in an interview that he wrote the song with his future wife and Jersey Girl, Kathleen Brennan, after she came into his life and “saved him.” Waits included the song on his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.

A master storyteller and poet, Springsteen rarely releases covers of other artists’ songs, but “Jersey Girl” remains an exception. He recognized the main character in the Waits composition as the same guy from his own “Sandy” and “Rosalita.”

In August 1981, Waits and Springsteen — both of whom would later enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — performed “Jersey Girl” together at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Born in 1949, Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was inspired to pursue a music career after watching the Beatles’ perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The 15-year-old Springsteen bought his first guitar for $18.95 at a Western Auto Appliance store.

He played small venues with a number of bands throughout the late ’60s and then caught the attention of a Columbia Records talent scout in 1972. Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., was released in October of that same year.

Springsteen has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. He’s earned 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award for Springsteen on Broadway. In 1999, he was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We hope you enjoy the audio track of Springsteen’s live performance of “Jersey Girl.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along...

“Jersey Girl”
Written by Tom Waits. Performed by Bruce Springsteen.

I got no time for the corner boys
Down in the street making all that noise
Or the girls out on the avenue
‘Cause tonight I want to be with you

Tonight I’m gonna take that ride
Across the river to the Jersey side
Take my baby to the carnival
And I’ll take her on all the rides

‘Cause down the shore everything’s all right
You and your baby on a Saturday night
You know all my dreams come true
When I’m walking down the street with you

Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la la I’m in love with a Jersey girl

You know she thrills me with all her charms
When I’m wrapped up in my baby’s arms
My little girl gives me everything
I know that someday she’ll wear my ring

So don’t bother me man I ain’t got no time
I’m on my way to see that girl of mine
‘Cause nothing matters in this whole wide world
When you’re in love with a Jersey girl

Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la la I’m in love with a Jersey girl

I see you on the street and you look so tired
I know that job you got leaves you so uninspired
When I come by to take you out to eat
you’re lyin’ all dressed up on the bed baby fast asleep

Go in the bathroom and put your makeup on
We’re gonna take that little brat of yours and drop her off at your mom's
I know a place where the dancing’s free
Now baby won’t you come with me

‘Cause down the shore everything’s all right
You and your baby on a Saturday night
Nothing matters in this whole wide world
When you’re in love with a Jersey girl

Credits: Photo by Manuel Martinez Perez, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

$40MM Investment Will Extend Life of Canada's Diavik Diamond Mine Until 2026

Rio Tinto has approved a $40-million investment that will extend the productive life of Diavik — Canada’s largest diamond mine — until the first quarter of 2026.

The new funding will pave the way for the underground expansion of the prolific open-pit mine, which has yielded more than 100 million carats since the site first opened in 2003.

The first phase of the project will explore new diamond resources directly below Diavik's existing A21 open pit. Phase 1 is expected to deliver an additional 1.4 million carats of rough diamonds.

Diavik expects to seek approval for Phase 2 of the A21 underground project in the first half of 2024. That phase is expected to deliver an additional 800,000 carats.

“Rio Tinto’s decision to support the underground development of the A21 pipe was prefaced on compelling industry fundamentals, our proven capacity to safely develop diamond mines in extreme conditions and a track record in competing successfully in the global diamond industry," said Sinead Kaufman, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Minerals. "This is good news for our employees, partners, suppliers and local communities in the Northwest Territories.”

Located in Canada's frigid Northwest Territories, about 300 km (190 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, the Diavik Diamond Mine is most famous for producing the "552," the largest rough diamond ever unearthed in North America. The 552-carat gem was discovered in October 2018 and made a public appearance at Phillips auction house in New York City in February of 2019.

The Diavik mine, which has consistently produced about 6 to 7 million carats of rough diamonds per year, is 100 percent owned and operated by Rio Tinto. According to mining.com, Diavik employs more than 1,100, of which 17% are Northern Indigenous people.

Credits: Rough diamonds and mine images courtesy of Rio Tinto. "552" photo by The Jeweler Blog.

2022 'Return to Normalcy' Resulted in Record 2.6MM Weddings, Reports The Knot

A year ago, the wedding experts at The Knot predicted that a "return to normalcy" would spawn a post-pandemic wedding boom in 2022. They were confident that 2.6 million couples would be exchanging vows last year, far outpacing even the pre-pandemic number of 2.2 million tallied in 2019, and according to The Knot’s newly released 2022 “Real Weddings Study,” they were exactly right.

Only 7% of respondents said their 2022 wedding date was impacted by COVID-19, down from 27% in 2021. 

“Real Weddings Study” included a lot of questions about proposals, engagements and jewelry preferences.

For instance, The Knot reported that nearly all (95%) of their respondents exchanged engagement rings and that diamonds remained the overwhelming choice of center stone (85%). While the round center stone still ranked as the most popular shape (favored by 37%), the oval has been making strong advances (21%, up from just 7% in 2017).

The engagement ring — at $5,800 — remained the second-highest-priced item on the list of all wedding expenses (the venue was #1). The popularity of more affordable lab-grown diamonds has allowed customers to consider larger center stones. In 2022, 23% of couples reported a center stone that weighed 2 carats or more. That's 11 percentage points higher than in 2017.

Once again, December was the top engagement month, as 15% of couples opted to celebrate during the holiday season (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were the top dates to pop the question). Respondents said the average length of their engagements was 15 months. Exactly 91% announced their engagements on social media, 87% proposed on bended knee and 71% asked for their partner's parents for permission.

The Knot emphasized how couples are more thoughtfully crafting their proposals. In fact, a majority of proposers (58%) said they felt pressure to plan a "highly unique proposal," and roughly half planned their proposal one to three months in advance compared to 31% in 2017.

For the seventh year in a row, October will be the most popular month to get married, with three of the top five most popular dates falling during that month. The top wedding date of 2023 is expected to be Saturday 9/23/23 (because of the neat repeating number), followed by these Saturday dates: 10/7/23, 10/14/23, 5/20/23 and 10/21/23.

Couples spent an average of $30,000 on their ceremony and reception in 2022, up $2,000 compared to 2021, but the numbers varied widely based on location.

A look at wedding costs in the 20 largest US metro areas shows New York ($60,000), San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland ($54,000), Boston ($50,000), Chicago ($47,000) and Washington, DC ($40,000) topping the list.

Couples paid the least in Dallas-Fort Worth ($28,000), Houston ($28,000), Seattle-Tacoma ($28,000), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota ($28,000), Cleveland ($27,000), Sacramento-Modesto ($26,000) and Minneapolis-St. Paul ($25,000).

In a special section of its survey dedicated to "Shifting Trends," The Knot identified these items on the rise: 45% requested an "unplugged ceremony" with no photos/videos (up 23%), 40% wanted a signature cocktail (up 17%), 39% offered gluten-free options at the reception (up 16%).

These items are on their way down: 48% handed out wedding favors (down 21%), 37% had a bouquet toss (down 12%), 32% created a wedding hashtag (down 23%).

There was a tie for the most popular type of wedding venue in 2022, with both banquet halls and farm/barn/ranch earning 20% of the total. Those were followed by historic building/home (13%), hotel/resort (11%) and country club (8%).

These were the average costs of key bridal services in 2022: reception venue ($11,200); photographer ($2,600), florist ($2,400), wedding dress ($1,900), DJ ($1,500), wedding cake ($510), groom's attire ($290), hair/makeup ($250). Catering averaged $75 per person.

The average number of wedding guests in 2022 grew to 117, significantly more than the 105 invited in 2021, but far less than the pre-pandmic 2019 average of 131.

The “Real Weddings Study” is based on responses from nearly 12,000 U.S. couples married between January 1 and December 31, 2022.

Credit: Image by BigStockPhoto.com.