Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you superb songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country star Miranda Lambert confesses a deep, dark secret to her engagement ring in the 2011 ballad, “Dear Diamond.”
The song’s protagonist has cheated on her husband and feels terrible about her indiscretions. Now, she fears that her once-flawless marriage could be fractured if she comes clean. She's certain the truth will break his heart, but the guilt might haunt her forever.
She sings, “Dear diamond, pretty and new / Perfectly flawless, too good to be true / Dear diamond, you shine like the sun / You wrap around my finger just like he does / You cost more than he wanted to lose / And with this ring I said I do / I promise to never do what I’ve done / I’ve lied to someone.”
In an interview with CMT.com, Lambert — who will celebrate her 41st birthday on Sunday — clarified that the characters in the story are fictional. This probably came as comforting news to fellow country star Blake Shelton, who was her husband at the time of the song's release.
“When you first get engaged, as the girl, you’re constantly staring at your ring, showing everybody your ring,” she told CMT.com. “I just thought it would be a cool concept to write a song to my ring. And, of course, the dark side of me just kind of leaned toward the darker version instead of going happy with it. But I think that was the right way to go.”
“Dear Diamond,” which features the on-point harmonies of country singer, Patty Loveless, is the sixth track from Lambert’s Four the Record album.
Lambert told Rolling Stone magazine that Loveless was one of her heroes and that the collaboration was really special to her — “a dream come true.”
With more than one million records sold, Four the Record reached #1 on the US Billboard Top Country albums chart and ascended to #3 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. It also placed as high as #12 on the Canadian Albums chart.
Born in Longview, Texas, in 1983, Lambert became interested in country music after attending a Garth Brooks concert as a nine-year-old. Lambert made her professional singing debut with “The Texas Pride Band” while she was still in high school. She also performed with the house band at Reo Palm Isle in Longview, Texas.
In 2003, Lambert placed third in Nashville Star, country music’s version of American Idol. Her first album, Kerosene, made its debut at #1 on the US Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Since her professional debut 20-plus years ago, Lambert has been honored with more Academy of Country Music Awards (35) than any artist in history. She also claims three Grammy Awards, six American Country Awards and eight CMT Music Awards. In 2019, the Chicago Tribune named Lambert the "greatest country music artist of all time." Earlier this year, she took home the Country Icon Award at the People's Choice Country Awards.
Trivia: The singer-songwriter-guitarist is also an author. In 2023, Lambert co-wrote a cookbook with this eye-catching title: Y’all Eat Yet? Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin’ Kitchen.
Please check out the audio track of Lambert and Loveless performing “Dear Diamond.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“Dear Diamond”
Written by Miranda Lambert. Performed by Miranda Lambert, featuring Patty Loveless.
Dear diamond, pretty and new
Perfectly flawless, too good to be true
Dear diamond, you shine like the sun
You wrap around my finger just like he does
You cost more than he wanted to lose
And with this ring I said I do
I promise to never do what I’ve done
I’ve lied to someone
Dear diamond, what will we do?
Well I like the devil, just face the truth
Dear diamond, be my saving grace
What you don’t know will kill him, that I can’t face
You cost more than he wanted to lose
And with this ring I said I do
I promise to never do what I’ve done
I’ve lied to someone, dear diamond
Dear diamond, with your band of gold
Some people you have, some people you hold
Dear diamond, I promise to keep
The secret I have while he’s holding me
Credit: Photo by Craig ONeal, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
