Music Friday: Bruce Springsteen's Got Diamonds and Gold, But He 'Ain't Got You'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Bruce Springsteen returns to our blog with his bling-embellished, 1950s-inspired ditty, “Ain’t Got You.”

In the song, The Boss details all the treasures he’s amassed, including “the fortunes of heaven in diamonds and gold,” but admits that his life is not complete because he “ain’t got you.”

“Ain’t Got You,” was the opening track to Springsteen’s introspective, autobiographical 1987 album Tunnel of Love. Unlike his previous album, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love opened a window into Springsteen’s personal life, especially his troubled marriage to actress Julianne Phillips.

Interestingly, the simple "money can't buy me love" song set off a tiff between Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt, a founding member of Springsteen’s E Street Band, according to a 2012 article in The New Yorker. Van Zandt didn’t think it was appropriate for Springsteen to write a song about his personal wealth.

“I’m, like, ‘What… is this?’” Van Zandt told The New Yorker. “And he’s, like, ‘Well, what do you mean? It’s the truth. It’s just who I am. It’s my life.’”

Van Zandt responded, “People don’t need you talking about your life… They need you for their lives. That‘s your thing. Giving some logic and reason and sympathy and passion to this cold, fragmented, confusing world – that’s your gift. Explaining their lives to them. Their lives, not yours.”

Despite Van Zandt’s objections, the song — which runs just 2:08 and was recorded by Springsteen alone in his home studio — landed as the first track on Tunnel of Love. The album would go on to sell more than three million copies and top the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.

BTW, Springsteen did eventually find his true love. He's been married to fellow musician Patti Scialfa since 1991 and they share three kids. 

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 (out of 50 nominations), 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 clip of Springsteen’s performance of “Ain’t Got You.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Ain’t Got You”
Written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.

I got the fortunes of heaven in diamonds and gold
I got all the bonds baby that the bank could hold
I got houses ‘cross the country honey end to end
And everybody buddy wants to be my friend
Well I got all the riches baby any man ever knew
But the only thing I ain’t got honey, I ain’t got you

I got a house full of Rembrandt and priceless art
And all the little girls they wanna tear me apart
When I walk down the street people stop and stare
Well you’d think I might be thrilled but baby I don’t care
‘Cause I got more good luck honey than old King Farouk
But the only thing I ain’t got baby, I ain’t got you

I got a big diamond watch sittin’ on my wrist
I try to tempt you baby but you just resist
I made a deal with de devil babe I won’t deny
Until I got you in my arms I can’t be satisfied

I got a pound of caviar sitting home on ice
I got a fancy foreign car that rides like paradise
I got a hundred pretty women knockin’ down my door
And folks wanna kiss me I ain’t even seen before
I been around the world and all across the seven seas
Been paid a king’s ransom for doin’ what comes naturally
But I’m still the biggest fool honey this world ever knew
‘Cause the only thing I ain’t got baby, I ain’t got you

Credit: Image by Gorup de Besanez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

35,250 Exciting Finds and Counting at Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park

Today, we're going to share some fun stats and facts about Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park, where amateur miners get to keep what they find at the only diamond site in the world that’s open to the general public.

Since it opened as a state park in 1972, Crater of Diamonds has welcomed more than 4.6 million visitors, including a record 201,000 in 2021.

Prospectors of all ages get to scour the 37½-acre search field, which is actually the exposed eroded surface of an ancient diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe. And while it may seem that the odds of finding a diamond are slim, over the 50-year history of the park, visitors have unearthed 35,250 diamonds weighing a combined 7,031 carats.

If you do the math, the probability of a park visitor actually walking away with a diamond is one in 132 — certainly better than your odds of winning the lottery or striking it rich at a casino.

Nearly 99% of the diamonds discovered at the park will fall into one of three color categories: white (clear), brown or yellow. According the Crater of Diamonds' official stats, exactly 62% of diamonds found to date were white, 20% were brown and about 17% were yellow. Slightly more than 1% were classified as "other."

Diamonds unearthed at the park average 1/5th of a carat, but about 21 per year will weigh in at 1 carat or more.

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an early mining operation in Murfreesboro, which is now the site of Crater of Diamonds Park. Named the "Uncle Sam," the white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats.

It was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. The Uncle Sam is now part of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. A marker at the park tells the story of the Uncle Sam and points to the spot where the gem was found.

Park interpreter Tayler Markham explained in a recent article on the park's website how a diamond’s color is influenced by its journey from deep within the earth to the surface.

Markham, who has a degree in geoscience, explained that while all diamonds are made from carbon, white (or clear) diamonds are closest to a pure carbon crystal. White diamonds found at the park often exhibit a unique silvery sheen that makes them appear opalescent. This is caused by tiny inclusions that scatter the light passing through the gem.

Brown diamonds at the park owe their color to what Markham calls "plastic deformation," a structural anomaly that occurs during the diamond's formation. This event creates gaps in the crystal lattice that affect the way light is absorbed by the diamond. Brown diamonds absorb all colors except red and green wavelengths, making them appear brown.

In 2020, Arkansas native Kevin Kinard found the largest brown diamond in the park’s history, a 9.07-carat brandy brown gem he named the "Kinard Friendship Diamond."

Yellow diamonds, noted Markham, are created when nitrogen is absorbed into the diamond's crystal structure during formation. Nitrogen impurities absorb blue light and reflect yellow wavelengths, giving the diamond a yellow hue. The intensity of the color depends on the amount of nitrogen in the diamond's chemical composition.

One of the most famous yellow diamonds discovered at the park is the 4.25-carat "Kahn Canary Diamond." The gem was left uncut and placed in a ring, worn by First Lady Hillary Clinton at her husband’s Presidential Inaugural Galas in 1993 and 1997.

Tickets to the park cost $13 for adults and $6 for children 6 to 12 years old. Children younger than 6 get to enjoy the park for free.

Credit: Image courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.

Minnesota Man Charged With Theft of 'Ruby Slippers' From Judy Garland Museum

In August 2005, two of the most iconic pieces of Hollywood memorabilia — the Ruby Slippers worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz — were snatched from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, MN, after closing time in a classic smash-and-grab event.

There was no surveillance video of the crime, and the only clue left behind was a single red sequin amidst a sea of busted plexiglass.

MGM’s chief costume designer Gilbert Adrian had created multiple pairs of Ruby Slippers to be worn by child star Garland during the filming, but only four pairs are known to still exist. Each of the pairs is believed to be worth $3 million or more if ever offered at auction.

The case finally broke in the summer of 2017, when an individual approached the company that had originally insured the slippers for $1 million and said he had information on how they could be returned.

After a yearlong investigation coordinated by FBI field offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, the slippers were secured during an undercover operation in Minneapolis. Although the Ruby Slippers had been recovered, the investigation was classified as "ongoing" because the FBI was still seeking those responsible for the 2005 heist.

“We reached the first goal, the recovery, and it’s a great day,” North Dakota United States Attorney Christopher Myers said at the time. “But we’re not done.”

Now, federal authorities believe they've got their man.

Last week, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against 76-year-old Minnesota resident Terry Martin for the "theft of an object of cultural heritage from the care, custody, or control of a museum." Martin is charged with one count of theft of major artwork.

The indictment alleges that it was Martin who stole the authentic pair of ruby slippers from the Judy Garland Museum. The investigation has been conducted by the FBI’s Minneapolis Division.

Before announcing the recovery in 2018, the FBI had sent the sequined shoes to the Smithsonian for verification. As many people know, a similar pair of Ruby Slippers has been one of the most popular attractions at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

The pair had been pulled from its exhibit in 2016 to undergo conservation care funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Smithsonian objects conservator Dawn Wallace had spent more than 200 hours examining the slippers and was intimately familiar with every detail.

Wallace confirmed that the FBI’s pair was the real deal, but in a surprising turn of events revealed that the pair that had been donated anonymously to the Smithsonian in 1979 was mismatched. The left and right shoes were of different sizes. The heel caps and bows on each shoe were not identical.

What’s more striking is that the FBI’s recovered pair had the same issues. When the four shoes were laid side by side, two identical pairs were temporarily united.

The Smithsonian believes that the mix-up may have occurred in the run-up to a 1970 auction of MGM costumes and memorabilia. That’s when the Smithsonian’s pair was originally obtained and could have been confused with the other pair because all four shoes had felt bottoms and were intended for dance sequences.

Interestingly, there are no rubies on Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers. In fact, the bugle beads that prop designers used to simulate ruby proved to be too heavy. The solution was to replace most of the bugle beads with sequins, 2,300 on each slipper. The butterfly-shaped bow on the front of each shoe features red bugle beads outlined in red glass rhinestones in silver settings.

While the FBI maintains custody of the recovered pair of Ruby Slippers, the Smithsonian's pair is currently the centerpiece of an exhibit at the National Museum of American History called "Entertainment Nation." Other items in the exhibit include Prince’s guitar and Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves.

Credits: Images courtesy of Smithsonian.