TITLE: DIAMONDS, JEWELS & JADE [Intro — Low Thunder, Radio Dial, Rhodes] [Deep Male Spoken] November fifth. Two-zero-two-six. House quiet. Mind wide awake. I came in here with one idea… Now listen to what it turned into. [Low Sung, Climbing to Soaring Tenor] DJ… Dr… Love— [Full Band Drop. Deep Answer] Diamonds, jewels and jade. [Verse 1 — Rich Rhythmic Baritone] Thanksgiving coming, got the family on my mind, But I'm back inside the lab before the morning finds the blinds. Two or three, maybe four, I been chasing down a phrase, Catch a little rest, wake up hearing something change. One idea turns a corner, finds another way to breathe, Now the words I wrote at midnight got a different kind of heat. I don't want the same old record with another little name, Every cut should bring a story, not a copy of the flame. [Pre-Chorus — Ascending Tenor] Some days the past looks simpler Through the distance in my eyes. But I won't spend my whole tomorrow Trying to bring back yesterday's light. [Chorus — Soaring Male Lead, Male Harmonies] DJ Dr Love… Let the whole room say my name. Diamonds, jewels and jade, Little light I found along the way. I speak what I've seen, Still got something left to learn. Diamonds, jewels and jade— [Falsetto] Something shining— [Deep Baritone] From the pressure and the burn. [Verse 2 — Low Melodic Entrance] Telephone booths, folded numbers in a pocket, Pagers on a belt, waiting on a little sign. Now a whole world fits inside a little screen, Still can't make somebody give you honest time. I remember love that felt a little clearer, But memory can leave the rough parts out. So I listen when a younger voice is speaking, They got their own whole world to figure out. You can work toward a future, still get shaken, Watch a careful little plan come apart. I won't tell you every closed door means a plot, But I'll learn who sets the terms before I start. [Pre-Chorus — Stronger Climb] History gives me questions, Faith gives me room to breathe. Nobody has to earn their human worth… Not from a title, not from me. [Chorus — Full Orchestra, Guitar Replies] DJ Dr Love… Let the whole room say my name. Diamonds, jewels and jade, Little light I found along the way. I speak what I've seen, Still got something left to learn. Diamonds, jewels and jade— [High Tenor] Something shining— [Low Answer] From the pressure and the burn. [16-Bar Male Rap — One Line Per Bar] Back inside the lab, let the bassline breathe, Got a notebook full of questions, not a trick up my sleeve. Politics and economics, I can feel them at the store, Read the price, read the terms, then I read a little more. Ain't pretending every headline tells me everything I need, Check the claim, check the context, don't get played by how I feel. Had some losses teach me lessons I was too proud to receive, Had some people show me love when I had little to achieve. I can honor where I came from without calling all change wrong, Let a young voice take a verse, let an old voice shape the song. Keep my dignity intact without making yours look small, Got a table in my thinking with some room around it all. Not checkers, but I ain't claiming every square is mine, Sometimes wisdom is admitting I should take a little time. Diamonds, jewels and jade, that's the name I give the light, That I carry from the hard days to the music of tonight. [Four-Bar Scratch Break] [Original Male Cuts: “Dr Love” / “Jewels and jade”] [Ambient Vocal Glitch. Orchestral Hit. Full Stop.] [Breakdown — Rhodes Only, Deep Spoken] Now, when I say jewels… I ain't only talking about what you wear. I'm talking about what you learned That somebody else might need to hear. And knowing when to listen Before you call yourself wise. [Eight-Bar Guitar and Symphony Break] [Soaring Male Falsetto; Resonant Low Replies] [Bridge — Exposed Baritone Building] I don't know the whole machine, I know the places where it touched my life. I can tell you where I stumbled, I can tell you how I found another try. If there's somebody sitting in the shadows, Let the music give them room— [Soaring Tenor] You ain't finished shining— [Band Stops. Deep Spoken] Neither am I. [Final Chorus — Biggest Vocal and Orchestral Lift] DJ Dr Love… Let the whole room say my name. Diamonds, jewels and jade, Little light we found along the way. I speak what I've seen, You can tell me what you've made. Bring your story to the music… Let it shine through all that gray. [Falsetto] Diamonds, jewels— [Deep Baritone] And jade. [Outro — Rhodes, Cello, Low Thunder] The Love Mixmaster. Still learning. Still creating. Fresh out the Quiet Thunderstorm. [Low Spoken] Now let that record turn. [Warm Final Chord. Live Applause.]
