Music Friday: Jenny Lewis Sings, 'I Was Your Silver Lining, But Now I’m Gold'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, former Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis sings about having the courage to jettison a failing relationship in the 2007 release, “Silver Lining.”

Penned by Lewis, the song builds up to the moment our heroine breaks up with her boyfriend because she knows that — in the long run — she’ll be better off without him.

She sings, “I never felt so wicked / As when I willed our love to die / and I was your silver lining as the story goes / I was your silver lining but now I’m gold.”

The phrase “now I’m gold” reflects Lewis's return to a fresh and idyllic view of life after having the confidence to break ties and set out on her own. She is no longer defined as her boyfriend’s silver lining — the glimmer of hope in his bad situation.

In the song’s official video, Lewis and fellow bandmate Blake Sennett are seen exchanging vows in a church. But then, Lewis hands Sennett a gold coin and leaves him at the altar. Both child actors, Lewis and Sennett dated in real life until 2002.

“Silver Lining” is the first track on the indie rock band’s fourth and final full-length album, Under the Blacklight. In retrospect, some critics believe that the song foreshadowed the band’s breakup, which would take place in 2014.

Both the single and the album earned critical acclaim. Rolling Stone magazine rated Under the Blacklight as the 8th best album of 2007, and picked “Silver Lining” as the 27th best song that same year.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1998, Rilo Kiley was named for a mythical Australian rules football player that came to Sennett in a dream. According to a 2005 interview with syndicated radio show Loveline, Sennett dreamed he was being chased by a sports almanac.

“When it got me, I leafed through it… and I came upon an Australian rules football player from the 19th century named Rilo Kiley. It’s kind of embarrassing,” Sennett admitted.

After the band's breakup, Lewis has gone on to have a successful solo career. She is currently touring, with stops planned in California, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Georgia and Tennessee.

Trivia: As a 13-year-old, Lewis starred alongside Shelley Long in Troop Beverly Hills (1989).

Please check out the official video of Lewis and Rilo Kiley performing “Silver Lining.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Silver Lining”
Written by Jenny Lewis. Performed by Rilo Kiley.

And I’m not going back into rags or in the hole
And our bruises are coming
But we will never fold

And I was your silver lining
As the story goes
I was your silver lining but now I’m gold
Hooray hooray I’m your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I’m gold.

And I was your silver lining
High up on my toes
Well you were running through fields of hitchhikers
As the story goes

Hooray hooray I’m your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I’m gold
Hooray hooray I’m your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I’m gold

And the grass it was a ticking
And the sun was on the rise
I never felt so wicked
As when I willed our love to die

And I was your silver lining as the story goes
I was your silver lining but now I’m gold
Hooray hooray I’m your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I’m gold
Hooray hooray I’m your silver lining
Hooray hooray but now I’m gold
But now I’m gold
But now I’m gold
But now I’m gold

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / rilokiley.

Birthstone Feature: This Remarkable Brazilian Amethyst Weighs in at 401 Carats

Flaunting an intense vivid purple color with flashes of red, this 401.52-carat stunner is one of the finest and largest faceted amethysts in the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

The Brazilian-sourced, emerald-cut gem was a gift from the Smithsonian Gemstone Collectors group in 2012 and checks all the boxes for what a Smithsonian-quality gem should be. In addition to its impressive size, it displays superb color, clarity and cut.

Amethyst is February's official birthstone and the most coveted variety of quartz. The gem is colorless in its pure state, but gets its purple color from a few atoms of iron displacing some of the silicon in the gem’s molecular structure. These traces of iron can give amethyst a wide range of colors, from almost white to deep purple.

Amethyst has been coveted for thousands of years and is one of the oldest recorded gemstones. Amethysts have been recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs and were prized by the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians and Hebrews.

The color purple was traditionally the color of royalty, and amethyst was used to adorn the richest and most powerful monarchs and rulers. The English revered the stone for its majestic properties — creating emblems and insignia featuring amethysts during the Middle Ages to symbolize royalty.

Amethyst gets its name from the Greek word “amethystos,” which literally means “not to intoxicate.” Apparently, the Greeks believed amethyst could reverse the effects of drunkenness. Other characteristics attributed to amethyst include peace, balance, courage, stability and inner strength.

The color rating of an amethyst is determined by hue, tone and saturation. Hue is the color; tone is relative lightness or darkness of the color; and saturation relates to the color’s intensity, from dull to vivid.

While Brazil is the primary source of this gemstone, fine-quality amethysts also can be found in parts of Zambia, Mexico, Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Canada, Maine, Colorado, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Credit: Photo by Ken Larsen / Smithsonian.

Out-of-This-World Proposal Package Includes Ascent to the Stratosphere

Starting in 2025, a Paris agency known for outrageous and lavish engagement proposal packages, will be offering couples a robot-hosted, seven-hour romantic adventure to the stratosphere and back for the tidy sum of 750,000 euros ($808,000).

ApoteoSurprise described how the couple will board a sleek, futuristic spherical space capsule hours before sunrise. Equipped with state-of-the-art comforts, the cabin will be equipped with an elegantly set dining table reminiscent of the most refined Parisian eateries.

As they start their slow, two-hour, pilot-assisted ascent into space, the couple will be introduced to StellarEmbrace, an AI-trained robot who will present the soon-to-be fiancée with a bouquet of roses.

StellarEmbrace is able to recognize body language, facial expressions, tone and vocabulary. The robot will respond to the couple's beck and call and is ready to field questions, converse, serenade and dance.

Propelled by a helium-inflated stratospheric balloon, the craft will pass through the troposphere (10 km, 6.2 mi) and into the stratosphere at about 32 miles (50 km) above the Earth's surface.

ApoteoSurprise noted that the towering windows of the capsule will offer awe-inspiring 360-degree views and a unique perspective of our planet. In the darkness of night, they will be able to see the countless networks of luminous cityscapes and roadways.

In the first phase of the trip, the robot will serve glasses of champagne, orange juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and freshly baked croissants.

As the sun rises, the capsule will be at its full cruising altitude. From that vantage point, the couple will see the bluish halo of the atmosphere, and the pitch-black expanse of space, bejeweled by a multitude of stars. It's a view that only 600 humans have ever experienced. ApoteoSurprise noted that the couple will feel a profound connection with all of humanity, forever altering their perception of our world.​

StellarEmbrace will then invite the couple to gather around the central table, where it will serve a food and wine pairing curated by a French Michelin-starred chef. The menu features puffed scallops, a duet of lobster and truffles, matured caviar with milk flower, honey-lacquered roast supreme and a crisp grapefruit.

Also accompanying the experience is a space-theme playlist, including iconic tracks, such as "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, "Across the Universe" by The Beatles, "Rocket Man" by Elton John and "Walking on the Moon" by Police.

But just before dessert, StellarEmbrace will playfully interject that something very important has been forgotten.

ApoteoSurprise noted that the robot will then make its way backstage and promptly return, clutching a luminous chest straight out of a science-fiction film. The suitor will input a secret code on the chest's screen, and a resonant electronic tone will announce the unveiling of a box containing an engagement ring.

At that moment, the suitor will pop the question, "forever sealing your love within the eternity of space!"

StellarEmbrace will break into applause, moved to tears, joyously sharing in the celebration.

​A bit later, noted ApoteoSurprise, the capsule will begin its two-hour descent.

All the while, the robot will have filmed every moment — from the couple's arrival at the capsule to their final farewells.

Credit: Image courtesy of ApoteoSurprise.