Music Friday: Gladys Knight Sings, ‘You’re Like a Diamond But She Treats You Like Glass’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you classic chart toppers with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Gladys Knight & the Pips tell a story of unrequited love in their 1970 hit single, “If I Were Your Woman.”

In the song, the protagonist is a young woman whose love interest continues to give her the cold shoulder. His attention is focused on a rival, despite the fact that she treats him so poorly. Songwriters Gloria Jones, Pamela Joan Sawyer and Clay McMurray use a diamond vs. glass comparison to describe how the two women value the same man.

Knight sings, “She tears you down darlin’, says you’re nothing at all / But, I’ll pick you up darling, when she lets you fall / You’re like a diamond but she treats you like glass / Yet you beg her to love you, but, me you don’t ask.”

According to music trivia website Songfacts.com, the song came together while Jones and Sawyer were having a discussion about gender issues during the infancy of the Women’s Liberation Movement. They were looking to compose a piece about how women could be committed in their relationships while remaining strong and independent.

“If I Were Your Woman” appears as the first track from Gladys Knight & the Pips’ album of the same name. The single zoomed all the way to #1 on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart and peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The song has been covered by a number of top artists, including Stephanie Mills (1988) and Alicia Keys (2006). The Keys version received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Established in Atlanta as The Pips in 1952, the group led by founding member Gladys Knight topped the music charts for more than three decades. Gladys Knight & the Pips are multiple Grammy and American Music Award winners and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

The group disbanded in 1989, but Knight went on to a successful solo career. Also known as The Empress of Soul, Knight continues to maintain an active touring schedule at the age of 79.

Please check out Gladys Knight & the Pips performing “If I Were Your Woman” on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1971. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“If I Were Your Woman”
Written by Gloria Jones, Pamela Joan Sawyer and Clay McMurray. Performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

If I were your woman and you were my man,
you’d have no other woman, you’d be weak as a lamb.
If you had the strength to walk out that door,
My love would overrule my sense, and I’d call you back for more,
If I were your woman.
If I were your woman, and you were my man.

She tears you down darlin’, says you’re nothing at all.
But, I’ll pick you up darling, when she lets you fall.
You’re like a diamond but she treats you like glass.
Yet you beg her to love you, but, me you don’t ask.
If I were your woman, If I were your woman.
If I were your woman, here’s what I’d do,
I’d never, never, never stop loving you.

If I were your woman, here’s what I’d do,
I’d never, never, never stop loving you.
If I were your woman, the sweet lovin’ woman
You’d need no other woman
If I were your woman, I’d be your only woman
You’d have no other woman

I’d never stop loving you…

Credit: Photo by Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.