Following the release of Here, which earned her an appearance on NBC’s “Today Show” among many other accolades, Owen performed the material live in major cities across the U.S., Canada and the UK. Reviewing her at NYC’s great launching pad for singer-songwriters, The Living Room, The New York Times raved that she “has the kind of wailing folk-jazz voice that slices away surfaces to touch vulnerable emotional nerve endings and leave you quivering.”
Preceded wherever she goes by her sterling reputation—Variety effusively describes her as “a charmer and a seducer, a rocker, and a jazz chanteuse”—Owen has recorded and toured with some of the world’s finest contemporary musicians, including k.d. lang, bluesman Keb ‘Mo, saxophonist Tom Scott, Julia Fordham, jazz vocalist Ian Shaw, Quantic and others. Cassandra Wilson calls her “one of the most passionate, mesmerizing, thoroughly creative vocal artists on the scene today.” Jamie Cullum has deemed Owen a “female Randy Newman.”
British folk-rock legend Richard Thompson was so impressed by the songbird that he invited her to perform on his tour, “1000 Years of Popular Music.” Owen’s considerable contributions to this historic jaunt are documented on a collectable 2006 CD and DVD of the event, where she and Thompson perform music dating back to the 13th century, up to contemporary tracks by Julie London, the Beatles and even Britney Spears. Owen has become Thompson’s female foil of choice: Aside from him performing on Happy This Way, Owen is featured on his most recent album, Sweet Warrior, and will join him in more U.S. performances of “1000 Years” this winter, when the show returns to the road.
More about this artist at www.judithowen.net
Emily
Judith Owen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Emily she took such good care of me
I used to tell myself...
"one day soon that's the way I'd like to be"
Emily had seen the things that I'd seen
Emily had know the wrongs that I'd known
I used to tell myself...
"one day soon that's the way I'd like to be"
"everybody's frightened
everyone's a little scared of life.
You can watch it from the side lines
a face in the crowd
but if you're not very very careful
It'll just pass you by..."
And Emily does what Emily can
One day she saw the light
and Emily ran straight for the door
she said.
"That's what it's for...
we only do the best we can."
And Emily ran
Some of us we stay to make the wrongs right.
Some of us we throw away our own lives
But you know I'd rather
I'd rather be like Emily
Used to be afraid to leave my own house
Used to be afraid to live my own life.
But you know I'd rather
I'd rather be like Emily
She told me.
"everybody's frightened
everyone's a little scared of life.
You can watch it from the side lines
a face in the crowd
pass you by..."
And Emily does what Emily can
One day she saw the light
and Emily ran straight for the door
she said.
"That's what it's for...
we only do the best we can."
And Emily ran
Emily in Judith Owen's song Emily is a girl the singer knew in her school, whom she admires for her courage and determination. In the opening lines, the singer confesses that Emily took good care of her and she wished to be like her someday. Emily had seen the same wrongs as the singer but instead of staying afraid or inactive, Emily chose to face her fears and go after what she wanted. Through Emily's example and encouragement, the singer learned that everyone is a little scared of life but succumbing to our fears is not an option. Emily urged the singer to not just watch life from the sidelines but to be proactive and make the most of it.
As the song progresses, we learn that Emily was not always fearless. Like the singer, Emily was once afraid to leave her own house and live her own life. But one day, Emily saw the light and ran straight for the door. From that moment on, Emily does what she can and tries to do the best she can. The singer admires Emily because she didn't give up on herself and instead of throwing away her own life, she decided to make the wrongs right.
The song's chorus repeats, "And Emily does what Emily can, one day she saw the light, and Emily ran straight for the door, she said, 'That's what it's for, we only do the best we can, and Emily ran.'" The chorus emphasizes Emily's determination and suggests that we, too, can tap into our inner strength and overcome our fears to live our best lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Emily's a girl I knew in my school
The singer is talking about a girl named Emily she knew in school
Emily she took such good care of me
Emily took good care of the singer in the past
I used to tell myself...
"one day soon that's the way I'd like to be"
The singer admired Emily's qualities and wished to be like her someday
Emily had seen the things that I'd seen
Emily had experienced similar things as the artist
Emily had know the wrongs that I'd known
Emily had knowledge of the same wrongs as the artist
She told me.
"everybody's frightened
everyone's a little scared of life.
You can watch it from the side lines
a face in the crowd
but if you're not very very careful
It'll just pass you by..."
Emily advised the singer that everyone is afraid of life and it's easy to be a passive observer, but if you're not careful, life will pass you by
And Emily does what Emily can
Emily does what she can in life
One day she saw the light
and Emily ran straight for the door
she said.
"That's what it's for...
we only do the best we can."
Emily realized something important and took action towards it, saying that we should all just do our best
And Emily ran
Emily took action towards what she wanted
Some of us we stay to make the wrongs right.
Some of us we throw away our own lives
But you know I'd rather
I'd rather be like Emily
The artist would rather be like Emily, who takes action to do what she believes in, instead of being passive or self-destructive
Used to be afraid to leave my own house
Used to be afraid to live my own life.
But you know I'd rather
I'd rather be like Emily
The singer used to be afraid to live their life, but now would rather take action and be like Emily
Contributed by Audrey T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.