With “Diamonds and Gold” local singer-songwriter Dallas Thornton is “recognizing when to say goodbye” — a fitting song considering he is about to embark on a trip to Europe to work on a documentary. The song’s nostalgic melodies and analogy-heavy lyrics certainly reflect this sentiment. Today, he’s sharing with us the music video, a beautifully shot, live-in-studio performance of the track that features Dallas alongside his talented bandmates.
Dallas rearranged “Diamonds and Gold” specifically for this video, and the new version of the track demonstrates his talent as a producer/arranger as well as songwriter. Mandolin strums, piano chords and a tasteful string arrangement perfectly complement Dallas’ vocals, casting an otherwise plaintive ballad in a warm, elegant light.
The bejeweled metaphor found in the title gets to the heart of Dallas’ message, and he explains it as follows: “Life is about learning. Those lessons are the good stuff – the diamonds and gold. We all have our treasures to share, but we’re not all looking for the same thing. Our treasures may be equal, but aren’t necessarily compatible. Wisdom is knowing how to plunder and barter accordingly.”
Roughly 3 minutes long, the structural and thematic simplicity of this track go a long way to make this more than your average breakup ballad. The video, too, reflects this relatively minimal approach, opting for impassioned performance over evocative visuals. The focused nature of the track can be attributed to Dallas’ writing process. As he shared with us, he “wrote each song independently of one another at various phases in my own search for happiness.”
While Dallas emphasizes lessons learned, rather than resentment, it should also be noted that this song is part of a nine-track concept album, In Case It Rains. With this in mind, “Diamonds and Gold” feels like a well-written chapter in a longer story, so check out In Case It Rains to “read on” and watch the video below: