Music Friday: SAILR's 'Gold' Reminds Us to Treasure the Simple Things in Life

Welcome to Music Friday when we often bring you uplifting songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we shine the spotlight on "Gold," a song familiar to fans of ABC's long-running hit show, Grey’s Anatomy.

Performed by SAILR, the inspirational tune amplified the emotional conclusion of "Pick Yourself Up," the episode that aired on Thursday, March 30. The song ran for about five minutes as the major plot lines were sewn up. "Gold" was likely selected by the show's creative team due to the powerful message it delivers about what is really important in life.

Lead vocalist Josh Jenkins sings, "Gold, all the little seconds that we hold / Every single breath we get to take / Don't let 'em go to waste / Give it all your heart and soul / They'll be gone before you know / So treasure it like gold."

The writer/composer team of Jenkins and Jordan Critz had introduced "Gold" on the SAILR Instagram page with an audio sample on June 2, 2022. Then, on Thursday a week ago, the team alerted its Instagram followers that the song would be featured on Grey’s Anatomy (Season 19, Episode 12) that same night.

This was not the first time a SAILR song has been selected for that show. On October 21, 2021, SAILR's “Puzzle Peace” made its television debut in Episode 4 of Season 18.

Jenkins and Critz describe SAILR as a cinematic folk band based in Nashville. Cinematic music is unique in that the compositions in this genre are intended to be used in a movie or television soundtrack. It's the type of music that evokes strong emotions, especially when combined with video.

Please check out the audio track of SAILR performing "Gold." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Gold"
Written and composed by Josh Jenkins and Jordan Critz. Performed by SAILR.

Time is a wheel that is spinning
Always moving on
The moments you think last forever
You look up and one day they're gone
Gotta hold on, hold on, hmm

I see little glimmers of heaven
From the waves to my own daughter's eyes
Of all the things this life could offer
I know that there's no greater prize
Than to hold on, hold on
Gotta hold on, hold on

Gold, all the little seconds that we hold
Every single breath we get to take
Don't let 'em go to waste
Give it all your heart and soul
They'll be gone before you know
So treasure it like gold

Everything we're looking for
Has been in our reach all along
All we gotta do is listen
To hear it ring out like a song
Let it stop you and behold
'Cause it's something beautiful

Gold, all the little seconds that we hold
Every single breath we get to take
Don't let 'em go to waste
Give it all your heart and soul
They'll be gone before you know
So treasure it like gold

From the morning to the midnight
From the high roads to the low tide
Feel it all 'cause it's all part of it

Yeah, we watch it as it goes by
Then we look back and we realize
Every minute was all just a gift

Gold, all the little seconds that we hold
Every picture in our mind we get to take
Don't let one get away
Give it all your heart and soul
They'll be gone before you know
So treasure it like gold

Credit: Image via Instagram.com / sailrband.

April’s Birthstone: 127-Carat 'Portuguese Diamond' Carries a Curious Backstory

In honor of April’s official birthstone, let’s take a deep dive into the story behind the 127.01-carat "Portuguese Diamond." The gem carries the distinction of being the largest faceted diamond in the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection, while owning a name that totally misses the mark on its provenance.

Legend has it that the near-flawless diamond was unearthed in Brazil during the mid-18th century and became part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels.

But, here's the rub. According to the Smithsonian, no documentation exists to substantiate a Brazilian origin nor a connection to Portuguese royalty. It's not clear where or from whom this story originated.

What we do know for sure is that Peggy Hopkins Joyce, a glamour girl and Ziegfeld Follies starlet, purchased the diamond from Black, Starr & Frost in February of 1928 and had it mounted on a diamond-studded platinum choker.

To obtain the massive stone, the performer traded a $350,000 pearl necklace and added $23,000 in cash to do the deal. The cash outlay in 1928 was worth about $404,000 in today's dollars.

Black, Starr & Frost clarified that the diamond had been sourced in 1910 at the Premier Mine in Kimberley, South Africa. It's the same mine that yielded the 3,106.75-carat Cullinan Diamond in 1905. More than 118 years later, the Cullinan still holds the title of the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever found.

Black, Starr & Frost had obtained the Portuguese Diamond as a cushion-cut stone weighing nearly 150 carats, but the jeweler later fashioned it into an Asscher cut at 127.01 carats.

In the late 1940s, the diamond toured the US, apparently in an attempt to attract a buyer, as the "World's Largest Emerald-Cut Diamond." (Asscher-cut and emerald-cut diamonds have a similar stepped faceting, but Asscher-cut diamonds have more of an octagonal shape.)

In 1951, the aging starlet, then 58, sold the Portuguese Diamond to New York jeweler Harry Winston, who added the gem to his traveling "Court of Jewels" exhibit.

Twelve years later, the Smithsonian acquired the diamond from Winston in exchange for a cache of small diamonds weighing a total of 3,800 carats.

In addition to its unusual history, The Portuguese Diamond is also unique in that it exhibits a bright blue florescence so intense that it is visible not only under ultraviolet light, but also in daylight or incandescent light.

The fascinating Portuguese Diamond is on display in the Gem Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History.

Credits: Diamond image by Chip Clark and digitally enhanced by SquareMoose / Smithsonian. Peggy Hopkins Joyce images courtesy of Smithsonian. Ultraviolet image by Chip Clark / Smithsonian.

Love Hurts: Centerfield Marriage Proposal Goes Very Wrong for This Dodgers Fan

Full-time chef and part-time romantic Ricardo Juarez thought it would be a good idea to hop onto the field at Dodgers Stadium during the seventh inning stretch on opening day to propose to his girlfriend, Ramona Saavedra, who was watching from the centerfield stands.

Wearing a Mookie Betts jersey and a Dodgers cap, Juarez jogged about 20 yards into centerfield, turned to the stands, went down on one knee and raised the ring box high above his head.

He looked wide-eyed into the stands in a blissful moment that drew "Awwws" from many of the 52,000 fans attending the contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Even Diamondbacks' left fielder Lourdes Gurriel seemed to be enjoying Juarez's moxie as he raised his arms in support and watched the proposal from a few yards away.

In a blink, the touching proposal went very, very wrong when a security guard in a full sprint threw his body headlong into Juarez — flattening the man and sending his cap flying.

Soon two other security guards joined the scrum, handcuffing and arresting Juarez for his overzealous attempt to win his girlfriend's heart.

Countless smartphones captured the action in realtime and the videos quickly went viral on many social media and streaming platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Twitter user @Mazeaveli captured the scene as viewed from the centerfield stands. See the video here…

After being released by the LAPD and told by the Dodgers organization that he wasn't permitted to attend another game for at least a year, the head chef at Oishii Sushi & Teriyaki, completed his proposal in front of a Motel 8 on Sunset Boulevard.

On Instagram, Saavedra showed off her new fiancé and new engagement ring, and commented about the on-field incident: "Tad bit extreme but he’s a LEO, what can you expect? And of course I said YES!"

Saavedra told KABC's Eyewitness News that her boyfriend was feeling the aftereffects of the aggressive tackle.

"He says he's a little sore, but I think he will feel it tomorrow," Saavedra said. "He doesn't care, he's like, 'I would do it again.'"

Saavedra added she was shocked to see her boyfriend hop over the short wall in centerfield and jog onto the turf.

"I couldn't believe it," Saavedra said. "We were so close to the field he just thought it was so easy to just jump off and do it."

Juarez told reporters that he was initially going to propose in the stands, but the excitement of opening day combined with some liquid courage amassed during their party bus ride to the game eventually got the better of him.

Credits: Screen caps via Twitter.com / @Mazeaveli. Couple photo via Instagram.com / ramonasavvedra_nini_/.