Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Oscar- and Grammy-winning artist Glen Hansard ponders whether a simple band of gold has the strength to save his marriage in the 2015 folk song “Wedding Ring.”
Written by Hansard, “Wedding Ring” is about a man who loves his wife but has serious doubts about her fidelity. He describes her as a “wildcat on the prowl” and fears he may be losing her.
In the catchy opening verse, the Irish singer-songwriter-actor-musician asks, “Wedding ring, wedding ring / Little band of gold / Will you be strong enough to keep her / Keep her love from going cold?”
“Wedding Ring” appears as the second track of his second studio album Didn’t He Ramble. The 2015 LP scored a nomination for Best Folk Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. It also performed well on the charts, rising to #5 on the US Billboard Folk Albums chart and #16 on the US Billboard Top Alternative Albums chart. Three years earlier at the 55th Grammy Awards, Hansard took home the coveted gilded gramophone in the category Best Musical Theater Album.
Born in Dublin in 1970, Hansard dropped out of school as a 13-year-old and eked out a living as a street performer. At the age of 20, he formed a band called The Frames and later became one half of the folk rock duo The Swell Season.
He showed off is acting chops in The Commitments (1991) and starred in the musical Once (2007). In that role, he performed the lead ballad “Falling Slowly” with co-star Markéta Irglová. The tune netted him an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
According to Allmusic.com, Hansard is an artist who is not afraid to lay bare his soul for his audience to see. Hansard claims his music inspiration comes from three world-class artists.
Says Hansard, “In my house, when I was a kid, there was the holy trinity, which was Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan — with Bob sitting center.”
Trivia: Hansard became a dad for the first time in October 2022 at the age of 52.
Please check out the video of Hansard’s live performance of “Wedding Ring” at the Tempodrom in Berlin, where he shares the stage with renowned American jazz trombonist and singer Curtis Fowlkes. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“Wedding Ring”
Written and performed by Glen Hansard, featuring Curtis Fowlkes.
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
Keep her love from going cold?
Where you running to now, baby
Running all the time
Where you running to now, darlin’
Running to all the time
Well, I sure hope it’s to your sister
And not that mean trombone player of mine
I’ve been trying to reach you, darlin’
I try, I try in vain
I’ve been trying to reach you, darlin’
Though I try, I try in vain
I always end up losing you
And walking home in the rain
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
Keep her love from going cold?
There’s a wildcat in you, woman
A wildcat on the prowl
There’s a wildcat in you, woman
A wildcat on the prowl
Every time I put my arms around you
I can hear that wildcat growl
I remember when I met you
There was something about the moon
I remember the night I met you
There was something about the moon
I didn’t know if it was waxing or waning
But I knew that you’d be leaving soon
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from getting old?
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Wedding ring, wedding ring
Little band of gold
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from going cold?
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from getting old
Will you be strong enough to keep her
To keep her love from going old?
Credit: Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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