"Diamonds" (Rihanna cover) by Josef Salvat, Thursday, August 26, 2021

Written by Sia, recorded and popularized by Rihanna, and today covered by Australian singer Josef Salvat, "Diamonds" is a powerful song, no matter the version. When Sia sang the song in James Corden's Carpool Karaoke, I thought it would have been a great pre-"Chandelier" mainstream introduction to Sia. But Rihanna took the song to number one, something that a less popular Sia may have not been able to do in 2012. Two years later, Josef Salvat released a slower piano-ballad version. The piano makes the song sound urgent and more desperate than Rihanna's version. The song was used for a Sony commercial, helping the singer gain international recognition. "Diamonds" borrows the metaphor from "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Lyrically, the song sounds both happy and sad. On one hand, the singer is talking about shining and reflecting light; however, the distances between two bodies in space makes me think about loneliness. When Rihanna "chose [sic] to be happy" it might mean putting distance between a loved one. Particularly if the "moonshine and molly" gets out of control. 

YOU'RE A SHOOTING STAR I SEE, A VISION OF ECSTASY. At 9:30 everyone crammed into the StarEx van. Allan tried to sit in the very back with his music, but Kelly got in beside him. "How are you doing, Allan?" After the door light went out all he could see the silhouette of her long hair. "It's been a long day." "Yes. You didn't hear the half of it. Pastor Shim was talking for hours about the Institute and how we need to reform and how we need to sacrifice and a little bit about how we need to pray. It seems that central office really has it out for this place, but somehow our student numbers always bounce back just when they're about to shut us down, and that's of course because of our great teachers." "But central office still isn't happy." Kelly was silent for a moment. The van was speeding one the mountain road. "No. They want baptisms." "It's funny. In orientation, they spent four days on their English curriculum, and an hour on the missionary work. Some of the institutes don't even have missionaries." "You know, Korean is a very implied language. There are grammatical structures to make the language less and less direct. The problem is, the less direct language the pastor uses, he intends to push church members to do something. "What, then, was the implied meaning of tonight's message?" Kelly sighed. "I'm very sorry that you came today. I'm sorry that I came. As you know, the gossip surrounding Pastor Shim's dishonesty is growing. You know that I'm just translating a message, right?" "Kelly, I trust you. We've been friends since I've been in Korea." "Well, the implied meaning is that all church members are not doing enough to keep the institute alive. And that you should be persuading the students much stronger to come to the events." "But I'm not permanent. What are the church members doing to foster new believers? A foreign English teacher can't be the only one bringing in new people." 

WHEN YOU HOLD ME, I'M ALIVE. Allan felt sick in the pit of his stomach. All of the relationships he built with his students had expectations attached to them. He felt he had done a good job, being the only missionary at the institution, during a transitional time when the company was filling teaching positions rather than missionary posts. He thought of the opportunities he had missed to bring students from Marley and Lily's classes to church. Then he got angry. Why was it all on him? Wasn't he allowed to be his introverted self? When could he be him. Kelly's expression softened in the dark, like a sympathetic colleague that had always thought of her. "There's a lot of things really not going right right now. Pastor Shim isn't doing what he can. Head office certainly isn't doing what they can. And the church members are just sitting around waiting for some miracle to happen. And one thing's for sure, church members always love to complain. They complained about the talent shows that Jay put on last year. Said it was too worldly. Yet, it was an opportunity to show interest in the students." As they approached the city, street lights danced on Allan and Kelly's faces, revealing a sadder, tireder continence on Allan's face, his five o'clock shadow and loosened tie, Kelly's age defying makeup covering the fact that she was old enough to be his mother. Smushed close together, his tight khakis, her sundress. Abram said something about when Kelly is with Allan, it's like they're the only two in the world.

https://genius.com/Josef-salvat-diamonds-lyrics

Josef Salvat version: 

Original: