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Emily
(kathy hussey)

It's the formula that never fails
Quick smile and the bottomless cocktail
She pours their drinks with
A splash of something female
In this brass balls bar on the backroad

They belly-up here every night
Mostly drunk and always right
She flirts a little more when money's tight
Cause it's a straight line from ego to wallet

Oh Emily
What a short memory
Every night when they're all gone
You swear you won't be here too long
But tomorrow, here you'll be
Emily

She wants to open her own place
Red plaid napkins, well-lit lunch space
She'd see more of her kids working days
But this job pays the rent, not for "maybes"
There's never enough left to bother saving

Oh Emily
What a short memory
Every night you send them home
And you swear that it won't be too long
Until you are free...

And it seems the hands are getting bolder
And her smile keeps growing colder
But somehow she lets habit hold her
In this brass balls bar on the backroad

Oh Emily
What a short memory
Every night you send them home
You swear you won't be here too long
But tomorrow, here you'll be
Such a short memory
Emily

© 2004 rakukat music, bmi, all rights reserved

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The Story:

 

March 30 2003

Emily was a favorite waitress at Wilhagans for longer than most of them tend
to stay at the job - we picked her name as a Debut Tuesday* title in March, 2003...
I had a long conversation with her one night soon after, in which we commiserated
with each other about being in the bar business. I was a bartender for many years,
and I vividly remember some of the misery of the last few of those years (no offense
to bartenders or servers who do it for a living - I have a lot of respect for what it takes
to do it well - and I really did enjoy it right up until when I stopped enjoying it, then I
didn't enjoy it anymore). Anyway, a big part of our conversation centered on how hard
it is to take the leap when you want to stop doing one thing and face the risk of doing
something you hardly dare to dream of - to leave the familiar for the uncertain. This
song was very easy to write, and it is as much me as her. Some of the specifics are
hers ("she wants to open her own place, red plaid napkins, a well-lit lunch space") ,
but most came directly from my experience ("they belly-up here every night, mostly
drunk, and always right...she flirts a little more when money's tight, 'cause it's a straight
line from ego to wallet").

The kicker of this whole story is that 5 of us wrote songs called "Emily" and she came out
to the patio to listen to them (somewhat unwillingly, I must say...she was kind of uncomfortable
for some reason)...I realized that mine, on the surface, probably seemed a little grim, but I was
actually hoping that she would see it more as a call to action than a criticism of her choice...after
all, it was a personal admonition as well, and I told her that. She didn't say much about the song
after the gig and I didn't press it...I had recorded live versions of all the "Emily" songs that night
and went home and made a CD to give her the following Tuesday. When I got there I found
out she had quit after we all left that night. YOU GO GIRL! I hope she is now proudly laying
out red plaid napkins in her very own well-lit lunch place...

 

* Debut Tuesday - I have run a writers night in nashville for many years,
   and one of the fun things that we do is pick a title every month...
   everyone who writes a song with that title "debuts" them on the last
  Tuesday of each month...