We’re cracking the Top 20, and the pop wonders are just going to get better and better. This is where we see Emm’s true mastery of songwriting come to the fore. We also get the first appearance of her duets album, Gem and I, and her only appearance from her albums, Goddess and Song of Love and Death. It also gets harder and harder to apply any sort of ranking system when we get this high, because on any given day, I like one song slight better than the other. At any rate, here are #’s 21 – 16.
#20 – Shining Light (Songs of Love and Death)
https://youtu.be/SZGcNx8nV8U
Taken from Songs of Love and Death, her 2005 album of songs by Irish acts, , Shining Light is a cover of a song by the band, Ash. But Emm, in her way, takes this rock-driven, slightly flat love song and turns it into an emotion-laden piano ballad. The lyrics are a little corny, but Emm sells it, and the bridge gets me choked up every time. The sad part is, I can’t find a recording of Emm’s version anywhere online, so I’ve included the far less interesting original version instead.
#19 – Boy with an Affliction (Gem and I)
Here is the first of three tracks, all in the Top 20, from Emm’s 2010 duets album, Gem and I. Talk about a batch of terrific pop gems, these are some of Emm’s best numbers. This first to appear, Boy with an Affliction is a duet with American singer/songwriter Matthew Nathanson, whose blend of folk and rock music complement Emm’s Canadian pop nicely. Matt is incidentally, from Lexington, MA. The lyrics seem to be telling the story of a boy chasing after success, and the more he gets the more he sacrifices his heart. The electric piano intro sets things up nicely before the acoustic guitar gets things moving. Emm’s background vocals over the chorus are just delightful, and Matt’s voice is a great compliment to Emm’s. And what a fantastic bridge! It just makes me smile.
#18 – Good Riddance (Science Fair)
Here’s another break-up song from Emm, but it’s also a nice “fuck you” number as the protagonist knows she’s better off without her deadbeat boyfriend. “If I’m nothing to you know then that’s the way I’d like to stay.” It’s the third song to appear on this list from Emm’s first DIY album, Science Fair, and there is more to come from this terrific album.
#17 – All-Time Low (The Summer of High Hopes)
It’s kind of amazing how Emm can apply the catchiest of pop tunes on some of the darkest or saddest lyrics and make a nearly perfect pop song. All-time Low, taken from her 2006 smash, The Summer of High Hopes, is the second song to appear on from that album. It tells the tale of a relationship that is hitting rock bottom… and we’re talking really bad, “Where everything we know keeps letting us down.” But it’s not necessarily the end, with the very slightest of hopes hidden in the bridge, “My tortured wonder, It’s a slow burn suicide. They’ve named the thunder, but God loves the world.” Maybe if God loves the world there’s still a chance? Plus, we’ve got another cool Canadian reference, “My tortured wonder, with the great lakes in your eyes.” I love how Emm tosses those lines into her lyrics.
$16 – Die Evergreen (Goddess)
Nice build on this gorgeous acoustic guitar driven pop number to a soaring chorus, Emm uses the full instrumentation well, with piano accents, nice percussion texture and great, subtle backing vocals and terrific use of her upper register. The lyrics, as usual, are a little hard to decipher… is it a break up song? Does die evergreen mean to vanish but still live on somehow? There are two cryptic reference to Rilke, a mention of the poet himself as a descriptor (“Your Rilkean heart should know…”) and a reference to one of his poems, “Blank Joy.” It all adds up to a terrific song from Emm’s 2009 album, Goddess… the only song from that album to make the list and it’s knocking on the Top 15!