Music Friday: Don Williams Turns Life's Pressures Into Diamonds of Love

Welcome to Music Friday, our regular feature spotlighting popular tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In his 1983 song “Pressure Makes Diamonds,” country music legend Don Williams turns a bit of gemological wisdom into a tender meditation on marriage, resilience and enduring love.

At its heart, the song embraces the idea that stress doesn’t necessarily weaken a relationship — it can refine it. Williams sings about a long marriage that has weathered disappointment, disagreement and everyday struggles, yet emerges stronger because of them. The metaphor is especially fitting for jewelry lovers: diamonds don’t form without extraordinary pressure, and neither does a truly lasting personal bond.

Williams delivers the message plainly and powerfully in the song’s central verse: “Pressure makes diamonds much harder than stone / And they only get finer as each day goes on / We’ve been through some bad times / But we made it somehow / ‘Cause if pressure makes diamonds / Our love’s a diamond by now.”

(Gem fact: Most natural diamonds form under intense pressure and heat about 100 miles below the earth’s surface.)

Written by Bob McDill and John Schweers, “Pressure Makes Diamonds” appeared as the seventh track on Williams’ album, Yellow Moon. The album topped out at #12 on the US Billboard Country Albums chart.

Over the course of a career that spanned six decades, Williams scored 17 #1 country hits, including "Tulsa Time," "You're My Best Friend" and "Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good."

With his towering frame and unmistakably gentle bass-baritone, Don Williams became known as the “Gentle Giant” of country music — a nickname that captured both his physical presence and his unassuming, deeply reassuring style. His enduring influence on the genre was formally recognized in 2010, when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Born Donald Ray Williams in 1939 in Floydada, TX, Williams took a winding path to stardom. After graduating from high school, he served two years in the U.S. Army Security Agency before turning his attention fully to music. In the 1960s, he co-founded the folk-pop group the Pozo-Seco Singers, which enjoyed modest success before disbanding in 1969. A brief detour outside the music business followed, but songwriting soon pulled him back in. In 1971, Williams landed a writing position with Jack Music Inc., a move that quickly led to a solo recording contract with JMI Records and the launch of one of country music’s most quietly successful careers.

Williams continued performing well into his 70s, retiring from touring in 2016. He passed away the following year at age 78, leaving behind a catalog of songs defined by warmth and emotional honesty.

Please check out the audio track of Williams performing “Pressure Makes Diamonds.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Pressure Makes Diamonds”
Written by Bob McDill and John Schweers. Performed by Don Williams.

Well, we’ve had our troubles, we’ve had our hard times
Where some might have stumbled, we’ve always survived
Sometimes love weakens, when the chips are all down
But what we’ve got together gets stronger somehow.

Pressure makes diamonds much harder than stone
And they only get finer as each day goes on
We’ve been through some bad times
But we made it somehow
‘Cause if pressure makes diamonds,
Our love’s a diamond by now.

Well, we know the feelin’ when the world closes in
We’ve been there before, love, and we might go again
The road may get rocky, life may get hard
But the whole world together can’t tear us apart.

Pressure makes diamonds much harder than stone
And they only get finer as each day goes on
We’ve been through some bad times
But we made it somehow
‘Cause if pressure makes diamonds,
Our love’s a diamond by now.

Pressure makes diamonds much harder than stone
And they only get finer as each day goes on
We’ve been through some bad times
But we made it somehow
‘Cause if pressure makes diamonds,
Our love’s a diamond by now…

Credit: Screen capture via Youtube / Don Williams.