Music Friday: Locket Inscription Reflects Spirit of Amanda Marshall's 'Dark Horse'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you hit songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Canadian songstress Amanda Marshall throws caution to the wind while wearing a very special locket in her 1995 chart-topper, “Dark Horse.”

In the song she co-wrote with Dean McTaggart and David Tyson, Marshall tells the story of a 19-year-old girl who enters into a whirlwind relationship with the new guy in town. The locals criticize her for being a crazy, romantic fool, but Marshall’s heart tells her that this could be “the lucky one.” Despite the long odds, she’s willing to put her money on this “dark horse.”

She sings, “I wear your locket, our picture’s inside / Inscription says ‘The joy’s in the ride’ / And I believe / That something so sacred / Is something worth this kind of fight / Cause love knows no patience / You can’t please everyone all the time.”

“Dark Horse” was the fifth single released from Marshall’s successful self-titled debut album, which sold more than one million copies in Canada alone. The single peaked at #5 on Canada’s RPM Top Singles chart and #1 on RPM‘s Adult Contemporary chart.

Interestingly, while appearing on The Rosie O’Donnell Show in 1995, Elton John commented that he was listening to Marshall’s just-released album and that “Dark Horse” would be a “guaranteed hit.”

Born in Toronto in 1972, Amanda Meta Marshall immersed herself in music as a child. She studied intensively, and her talents yielded her a spot at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. While performing on the Queen Street West bar scene in her teens, she met Canadian jazz and blues-rock guitarist Jeff Healey, who was impressed by her powerful voice. She eventually toured with Healey and then released her debut album a few years later. It was a monumental work that spawned six Top 40 hits.

A year later, in 1996, her song “This Could Take All Night” was included in the original soundtrack of the motion picture Tin Cup. One year later, Marshall’s “I’ll Be Okay” was featured on the original soundtrack of My Best Friend’s Wedding. She was nominated as Best Songwriter at the 2000 Juno Awards.

Marshall took a long break from the recording business as she worked through a dispute with her record label. In June of 2023, the 51-year-old Marshall finally returned to the music scene with the release of a new album, Heavy Lifting, supported by a Canada-wide tour.

Please check out the official video for Marshall’s “Dark Horse.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

“Dark Horse”
Written by Dean McTaggart, David Tyson and Amanda Marshall. Performed by Amanda Marshall.

Indian summer
Abilene
You were new in town, I was 19
And sparks flew

They called us crazy behind our backs
“Romantic fools” we just let them laugh
Because we knew

It may be a long shot
We may get lonely down the line
But love knows no reason
And I won’t let ’em make up my mind

My money’s riding on this dark horse, baby
My heart is sayin' it’s the lucky one
And its true color’s gonna shine through someday
If we let this, let this dark horse run

The stars are brighter in the desert sky
No need to wonder or justify
Where this will lead

I wear your locket, our picture’s inside
Inscription says, "The joy’s in the ride"
And I believe
That something so sacred
Is something worth this kind of fight
Cause love knows no patience, no
You can’t please everyone all the time

My money’s riding on this dark horse, baby
My heart is saying it’s the lucky one
And its true color’s gonna shine through someday
If we let this, let this dark horse run

So rare
So sweet
Together baby, I know
We can
Disappear
Be free

Ohh, my money’s riding on this dark horse, baby
My heart is saying it’s the lucky one
And its true color’s gonna shine through someday
If we let this, let this dark horse run

My money’s riding on this dark horse, baby
My heart is saying it’s the lucky one
And its true color’s gonna shine through someday
If we let this, let this dark horse run

Indian summer
Abilene
You were new in town, I was 19

Credit: Photo by Allen McGregor from Brampton, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Massive Diamond-Encrusted Gold Coin Is a Gleaming Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

An Indian luxury brand has pulled out all the stops in its gleaming tribute to Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the beloved British monarch who reigned for more than 70 years and died nearly a year ago on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96. The East India Company unveiled on Monday a massive commemorative coin — really an objet d’art — that is wider than an NBA basketball, weighs 3.61kg (7.95 lbs) and glistens with 6,426 diamonds weighing 486 carats.

The creator has valued the "The Crown Coin" at a whopping $23 million. The current record for the most expensive coin ever auctioned is held by a 1933 American “Double Eagle,” which sold for $18.9 million at Sotheby’s New York in June 2021.

The Crown Coin is actually a coin of many coins.

The most ornate face includes a series of 10 .999 1oz gold coins orbiting a much larger 1kg (35.27oz) gold coin, similar in formation to the way the planets orbit the Sun. The smaller coins feature portraits of the late monarch as well as the personifications of the six virtues as featured on the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace. These are widely acknowledged as the guiding principles set down by Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and carried forward by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022).

The outer ring of this face is inscribed with notable quotes from her coronation oath in 1953. On the upper rim, it says, "The things I have here before promised I will perform and keep so help me God." The lower rim has this quote: "Throughout all of my life and with all my heart I will strive to be worthy of your trust."

The diamond array on the multi-coin face is said to be inspired by Elizabeth II's tiaras. The diamond formation on the effigy side of the coin follows the lines of the British flag.

The commemorative coin is not considered legal tender, although the smaller coins included in the design are.

From concept to fabrication, The Crown Coin was truly an international collaboration. According to The East India Company website, the coin was conceived in Britain and designed in Sri Lanka and England. The outer ring of gold was made in India and engraved in Singapore. The coins were minted in Germany and The Netherlands. The diamonds were cut and polished In Australia, South Africa and Canada, and certified in the US by the Gemological Association of America. And finally, the coin was assembled in India. Exactly 83 artisans lent their skills to this project, which took more than one year to complete.

"Queen Elizabeth II was an inspiration for many generations, embodying the virtues which guided her through the past seven decades and which are celebrated in this rare and exceptional tribute," noted Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and CEO of The East India Company.

Back in May of 2022, The Royal Mint produced the largest coin in its 1,100-year history to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s historic 70-year reign. The one-of-a-kind "Platinum Jubilee" coin was made of .999 gold and weighed 15kg (33.1 lbs). Its diameter of 22cm was slightly smaller than The Crown Coin at 24.4cm (9.6 in). The coin carried a denomination of £15,000, but the value of the precious metal at the time of its release was £776,595 ($982,000).

Credits: Images courtesy of The East India Company.

Mexican Archeologists Recover 1,100-Year-Old Nose Ornament From Mayan Ruins

An intricately carved nasal ornament made from human bone was recently unearthed during the exploration of the ruins of Palenque, an ancient city in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas. Dating back at least 1,100 years, the nasal attire was likely worn by rulers and priests as an embodiment of K'awiil, the Mayan god of corn and fertility.

Carved from the human distal tibia (the bone of the lower leg that connects with the ankle), the jewelry has an engraved scene that expresses communication with the gods and ancestors. When affixed to the nose, the ornament would have given the user the appearance of having a continuous line from the forehead to the tip of the nose — similar to the shape of an ear of corn. The piece was likely worn during religious ceremonies.

The distal tibia provided the perfect shape for the nose ornament because of the crest that runs along the bone. The jewelry measures 6.4cm (2.5 in) long by 5.2cm (2.0 in) wide, and is thicker at the bottom than it is towards the top.

This is the first nasal ornament to be unearthed in Palenque, although this type of jewelry has appeared in several sculptural representations, such as the lid of the sarcophagus of the famed 7th-century Mayan king Kʼinich Janaab Pakal.

The intricate carving has a distinct left and right side. One half of the piece shows the profile of a Mayan man wearing a headdress depicting the head of a bird, tubular wristbands and a necklace of spherical beads. On his left arm is the Mayan glyph ak'ab' meaning “darkness” or “night.”

His right arm extends to the other side of the piece, where it holds a long and thin object. In the lower part of that side is a representation of a human skull without a lower jaw. The skull is placed on what appears to be a bundle of cloth marked with cross bands.

Arnoldo González Cruz, director of the Palenque Archaeological Project (PAP), explained that the extraordinary piece was part of a ritual deposit interred during the Late Classic period (600 and 850 AD) to commemorate the completion of a building that was part of a large architectural complex.

Cruz and his team discovered the nose jewelry among other artifacts, which included obsidian blades and fragments of a bone awl. Conservation work at the Palace of Palenque is being conducted by Mexico's Federal Ministry of Culture, through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Credits: Photos and illustrations by Carlos Varela Scherrer, courtesy of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).