Welcome to Music Friday, our weekly spotlight on songs that feature jewelry, gemstones, or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we’re revisiting a witty track by country artist Jason Michael Carroll, who seals a momentous, life-changing event with a half-carat diamond ring in his 2011 single, “Numbers.”
In the song, Carroll takes a lighthearted look at how numbers — from radio frequencies to special dates — seem to surround us every day. While most are meaningless, a select few hold profound importance.
He sings, “Then three years later ‘neath a million stars / In my F-150 on her granddad’s farm / I slipped a half-carat diamond on the third finger of her left hand / And asked to be her one and only man.”
The North Carolina native was instantly drawn to the song when he first heard it.
“It was written by Patrick Davis and Rodney Clawson and it’s about the way certain numbers, like dates and times, can represent some of life’s most significant moments. Moments like your first date, meeting the love of your life and the day your child is born,” he explained. “Most numbers mean absolutely nothing, but some of them, like the date you meet the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with, mean everything.”
“Numbers” was released in March 2011 as the title track from Carroll’s third studio album. The album charted at #33 on the Billboard US Country Albums list and was sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores. It was a fitting distribution channel since Carroll got his start singing in public while working as a Cracker Barrel server in Henderson, NC.
Born in Youngsville, NC, in 1978, Carroll earned his big break at age 26 when he won the “Gimme the Mic” vocal competition hosted by local FOX affiliate WRAZ. That success led to a record deal with Arista Nashville in 2006.
Carroll is currently on tour, with performances scheduled in states across the country, including West Virginia, Florida, Alabama, California, Idaho, Michigan and Indiana.
Be sure to check out the audio track of Carroll performing “Numbers.” And if you’d like to sing along, the full lyrics are below…
“Numbers”
Written by Rodney Clawson and Patrick Davis. Performed by Jason Michael Carroll.
I’m doin’ 72 in a 65,
On I-24 in a four-wheel drive
Got a 10 o’clock on 18th Avenue
And there’s a 30% chance of rain all week
And the high today is gonna be 83
They’re playing Highway 101 on 102.5
An 18 wheeler by my side
Numbers all around, flying by, up and down,
Some as slow as Christmas coming,
Some like the speed of sound,
And we all wonder, what they mean,
The highs, the lows, the in-betweens,
Most of them mean absolutely nothing
But some of them mean everything
I met her at 9:15 on my buddy’s back porch
Shootin’ bottle rockets on July 4th
We were both 19 and she was a perfect 10
Then three years later ‘neath a million stars,
In my F-150 on her granddad’s farm,
I slipped a half-carat diamond on the third finger of her left hand
And asked to be her one and only man
Numbers all around, flying by, up and down,
Some as slow as Christmas coming,
Some like the speed of sound,
And we all wonder, what they mean,
The highs, the lows, the in-betweens,
Most of them mean absolutely nothing
But some of them mean everything
John 3:16, the Fab four,
The 50-yard line, the 13th floor,
9/11, the dirty dozen,
We’re all waiting on the Second Coming
Numbers all around, flying by, up and down,
Some as slow as Christmas coming,
Some like the speed of sound,
And we all wonder, what they mean,
The highs, the lows, the in-betweens,
Why, most of them mean absolutely nothing,
Oh most of them mean absolutely nothing,
But some of them mean everything
Oh numbers
I’m doin’ 72 in a 65,
On I-24 in a four-wheel drive
Got a 10 o’clock on 18th Avenue
Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / JiggidyNDG.