Song Spotlight: “Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)”

Song Spotlight: Some Days Are Diamonds | soundscapingsource.com
  • Theme: Validation, Positive thinking
  • Mood: Thoughtful, processing, slow
  • Style: Country, Folk

The John Denver classic song “Some Days Are Diamonds” is one of those songs that is both soothing and upbeat at the same time. This song can be a musical container for processing changes in your life, and in the right context, the lyrics can lead to deep discussions about various chapters of life.

This song was originally written and recorded by Dick Feller in 1976. It didn’t hit the Billboard charts then, but it got up to #10 when John Denver recorded it in 1981, for the B-side of “Country Love.”

The narrator of this song is speaking to someone who is no longer there, and although he says he’s fine, that’s not the truth. In fact, we get the truth in the lyrics of the chorus:

Some days are diamonds, some days are stones
Sometimes the hard times won’t leave me alone
Sometimes a cold wind blows a chill in my bones
Some days are diamonds, some days are stones

That’s just the reality of coping with any difficulty, isn’t it? We want things to be fine as soon as possible, after the loss of a job or a loved one, or when we’re feeling lonely or overwhelmed. But we can also let the people who love us know that not every day is a good one. And we can tell the people we love that they don’t have to pretend to be fine when they’re not.

Try This:

  • Discuss memories of good and bad days, providing validation that we all have some of both.
  • Write another verse to the song, including descriptions of how to cope with the bad stuff.
  • Change the words of the chorus, choosing different words for “diamond” and “stone.” (For example, “some days are ice cream and others are broccoli.”
  • Write down bad memories or other “stones” and placing them in a bottle to send off in a body of water or to burn as a way of releasing those bad memories.
  • Make a list of a person’s “diamonds” – happy memories or good things that have happened to them.

“Some Days Are Diamonds” is a great song for describing the ambivalence we feel while moving through grief or other difficult circumstances, and for communicating to the people we care for that they don’t always have to portray themselves as upbeat and “fine.”

4 Comments

  1. MJ Landaker on July 29, 2017 at 11:26 am

    This song has been going through my head incessantly over the past two weeks.

    • Tony Wilson on November 20, 2021 at 8:28 am

      My take on the meaning of the song is that although stones are hard,- diamonds are even harder ……..
      Just my interpretation. – Cheers! Tony.

  2. Ginger on July 24, 2020 at 12:40 am

    This song so perfectly portrays my life today I feel I need to just say it somewhere. When you have to give up the person you love because there is just no way for you to be together…it is the single most painful thing I’ve ever had to do. It is in some regards, worse than death.

    • Rachelle on July 30, 2020 at 4:37 pm

      I hear you. Some days are rough, that’s for sure. I wish you peace during this challenging time.

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