EMA is the solo performing moniker of guitarist/vocalist Erika M. Anderson,… Read Full Bio ↴EMA is the solo performing moniker of guitarist/vocalist Erika M. Anderson, who shaped her experimental voice and guitar techniques in two well-regarded underground bands before setting off on her own. Anderson, who moved to Los Angeles from South Dakota when she was 18, played guitar with folk-noise outfit Amps for Christ in the late '90s and early 2000s, then formed the psych-folk band Gowns in 2004 with former Mae Shi member Ezra Buchla. After making three albums, Gowns disbanded in early 2010, and Anderson began working on solo material that included that year's Night People release, Little Sketches on Tape. Her single Grey Ship arrived about a year later and boasted a 17-minute version of Robert Johnson's "Kind Hearted Woman" that managed to reinvent the song drastically while remaining true to its spirit. Her debut album, Past Life Martyred Saints, appeared on Souterrain Transmissions in mid-2011. It was widely praised in the music press and, despite minimal marketing, it led to headline tours across North America and Europe. The following year Anderson began work on her second full-length with musician Leif Shackelford in Portland, Oregon. Titled The Future's Void, it arrived via Matador Records in April 2014. She explored the album's concepts of virtual reality, consumerism, and identity further with I Wanna Destroy (Sacred Objects from Suburban Homes), an exhibit that incorporated Oculus Rift technology and showed at MoMA PS1 in New York and London's Barbican. Anderson and Shackelford's referential score to the cyberbullying film #Horror arrived at the end of 2015. Anderson worked with co-producer Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra on 2017's Exile in the Outer Ring, an impression of nationalism, poverty, and alienation in the U.S. Midwest.

Satellites
EMA Lyrics

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Open the satellites, open the satellites
Open the satellites, open the satellites

Open the satellites, open the satellites
Open the satellites, open the satellites

She's such girly in this big space
I can't read them, she left dreams

Open the satellites, open the satellites
Open the satellites, open the satellites

Yes, yes, as the thoughts join the night
I'mma push bright eyes up to the sky
I can see them, two, three, four, five thousand of them
And I remember when the world was divided
By a wall of concrete and a cube full of iron
Still pull them out to the space and we don't return, oh, what a waste

Open the satellites, open the satellites
Open the satellites, open the satellites
Open the satellites, open the satellites

Ain't coming out that well

I have a brand new spell
Ain't coming out that well

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to EMA's song Satellites are a call to open up satellites and explore the vastness of space. The repetition of "open the satellites" serves as a plea for permission to embark on a journey of discovery. The first verse paints a picture of being lost in space and unable to connect with someone who is far away. The use of "girly" here may be interpreted as being too childlike or lighthearted to belong in space. EMA also mentions "left dreams," which could refer to unfulfilled aspirations or losing touch with one's imagination.

The chorus of the song emphasizes the desire to explore and find new things. The imagery of "push[ing] bright eyes up to the sky" suggests a yearning to see beyond what is immediately visible. EMA reminisces about a time when the world was physically divided by a wall and almost seems to compare that to the current state of being divided by limitations within our own minds. The line "Still pull them out to the space and we don't return, oh, what a waste" suggests that we should take advantage of the opportunity to explore the unknown rather than staying confined to our current circumstances.

The last verse ends the song on a somewhat cryptic note. The use of "brand new spell" could refer to a newfound sense of power or control over something. However, EMA also acknowledges that things "ain't coming out that well." It's unclear whether this is a reference to a personal struggle or a general warning about the potential consequences of seeking out the unknown.

Line by Line Meaning

Open the satellites, open the satellites
The singer is urging to access the satellites

She's such girly in this big space
The girl or spaceship is vulnerable in the vast emptiness of space

I can't read them, she left dreams
The singer is unable to comprehend the girl's thoughts, who might have lost her aspirations or fantasies

Yes, yes, as the thoughts join the night
The singer is acknowledging how ideas appear stronger in the silence of night

I'mma push bright eyes up to the sky
The singer encourages gazing upon the stars to deepen one's sense of amazement

I can see them, two, three, four, five thousand of them
The singer is mesmerized by the number of satellites visible in the sky

And I remember when the world was divided
The singer recalls the days when the world was separated

By a wall of concrete and a cube full of iron
The singer refers to the Berlin Wall

Still pull them out to the space and we don't return, oh, what a waste
Despite sending satellites to space, they cannot be brought back, making it a futile process

Ain't coming out that well
The situation isn't going great or progressing as planned

I have a brand new spell
The singer has a new method or approach to try

Ain't coming out that well
The situation still isn't improving

Contributed by Nathan L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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