Category Archives: New Release

Lyrics-2

What Took You So Long (Black Chesterfield) – Released on July 25, 2017

What Took You So Long © ℗ 2017 Black Chesterfield. All rights reserved.

Superliner
(Linda Emerson)

I’m coming back please wait for me
I’m at the station here in Memphis Tennessee
My bags are packed and my heart is free
Flying down the railroad track ahead of me

Down where the river flows to the sea, oh
I know my true lover waits for me and
After tomorrow I won’t be dreaming
About that girl in New Orleans woh-oh-woh

Superliner pick up your speed
A hundred miles an hour should be fast enough for me
Don’t need no window seat no scenery
Nothing is as pretty as ma sweet jolie
Down where the river flows to the sea, oh
I know my true lover waits for me and
After tomorrow I won’t be dreaming
About that girl in New Orleans woo-weeee

[whistling]

Down where the river flows to the sea, oh
I know my true lover waits for me and
After tomorrow I won’t be dreaming
About that girl in New Orleans, ‘cauuuse

I’m coming back please wait for me
I’m at the station here in Memphis Tennessee
My bags are packed and my heart is free
Flying down the railroad track ahead of me
Flying down the railroad track to New Orleans
Flying down the railroad track to ma jolie

(Train whistle)

All Aboard!

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Nature Song No. 1
(Linda Emerson/Alan Bennett)

Sunday morning in the woods
Standing where they’ve always stood
Breathing out the air we breathe
Brothers are we to the trees

Water flowing in the streams
Winds its way in through our veins
Crystal clear what will the future bring
Everything is from the same deep spring and

I’ll pray to the sun
Shining on everyone
I’ll sing to the moon and stars
Wondering what we are

Bed of earth beneath my feet
Brown and safe and warm and deep
Open up and let me fall asleep
Mother please remember me
Oh keep me in your never-ending dream and

I’ll pray to the sun
Shining on everyone
I’ll sing to the moon and stars
Wondering what we are
Still wondering what we are

[ Instrumental Section ]

I’ll pray to the sun
Shining on everyone
I’ll sing to the moon and stars
Wondering what we are
Still wondering what we are
Still wondering what we are
Still wondering what we are
Still wondering what we are
Still wondering what we are

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over the Bush Music (BMI)

What Took You So Long
(Linda Emerson/Alan Bennett)

So what
What is the hold up
When will you show up
You know I try to be strong
But I get so lonely
When it’s just only me
The nights are so long

I’ll meet you someday
I’ll know right away
When I see your face
The first thing I’ll say
Don’t get me wrong
I’m glad that you came
What took you so long

Oh love
I’ve heard it enough, uh
You can’t hurry love up
Surely you want me too
Why are you stalling
I’m desperately calling you
It’s always been you

I’ll meet you someday
I’ll know right away
When I see your face
The first thing I’ll say
Don’t get me wrong
I’m glad that you came
What took you so long

[ Instrumental Section ]

I’ll meet you someday
I’ll know right away
When I see your face
The first thing I’ll say
Don’t get me wrong
I’m glad that you came
I’m glad that you came
What took you so long
Don’t get me wrong
I’m glad that you finally came
What took you so long

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over the Bush Music (BMI)

(I’m Gonna Give You) ’Til the Morning Comes
(Linda Emerson/Alan Bennett)

I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes
I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes
Say goodbye with the rising sun
I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes

Pull down the shutters and hold me tight
Pull down the shutters and hold me tight
I’m not ready to see the light
Pull down the shutters and hold me tight

Hey do you wanna stay
Here in my arms all day
Hey do you wanna stay
One more day

Then
I’m gonna find me a love that’s true
I’m gonna find me a love that’s true
One to last the whole day through
One that I can hold onto
I’m gonna find me a love that’s true

[Solo]

Hey do you wanna stay
Here in my arms all day
Hey do you wanna stay
One more day

I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes
I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes
Say goodbye with the rising sun
I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes
I’m gonna give you ‘til the morning comes

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over the Bush Music (BMI)

The Wreck of the Sultana
(Linda Emerson)
(Based on the story of Romulus Tolbert in Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History by Alan Huffman)

We were Cairo-bound aboard the steamboat named Sultana
We had just left Memphis-town around midnight
On the 27th day in the month of April
1865

She fought seven miles north up the Mississippi River
She was struggling against the spring thaw tide
After several heavy rains she had all four boilers straining
And listing side to side

[ Whistle solo chorus]

Only two short days before we were lined up down at Vicksburg
All of us who had somehow survived
We waited on dock while they fixed a leaking boiler
Quick patch thin we were packed tight in
But headed home alive

We were battle-scarred and starved from two years in Cahaba
We were haunted by the things we heard and saw
Just bones and skin in clothes from dysentery and scurvy
And still the voices called they called

Rescue me rescue me
Through the night they kept crying
Comfort me comfort me
Slowly fading off then dying

Then at two am the boilers caved in
Hell was all around us
Explosion burn or swim
In the cold spring runoff

[ Whistle solo chorus ]

Rescue me rescue me
Through the night they kept crying
Comfort me comfort me
Slowly fading off then dying

They plucked me from banks of the Mississippi River
I had floated clear across to Arkansas
I was stuck there on a tree submerged halfway downstream
My uniform hem caught it

Will I ever make it out of this damned hospital bed
Will I ever live to see old Saluda
I’m burned from toe to head but I know that I’m not dead
‘Cause Lord I hear them calling

Rescue me rescue me
Through the night they keep crying
Comfort me comfort me
Slowly fading off then dying

Rescue me rescue me
Through the night they keep crying
Comfort me comfort me
Slowly fading off then dying
Slowly fading off then dying
Slowly fading off then dying

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI)

You Should Be My Darling
(Linda Emerson/Alan Bennett)

Fly on iridescent wings
Murmurating starlings
Tra-la-ling, tra-la they sing
You should be my darling
You should be my darling

Shake the poplars dappled leaves
Afternoon-applauding
Silver laughter lakefront breeze
You should be my darling
You should be my darling

Tra-la-la-la I want you here with me
Tra-la-la-ling we’ll sing for the night that’s coming

At dark the stars come dancing out
On the water falling
Sparkling they float about
You should be my darling
You should be my darling

(Music verse)

Tra-la-la-la I want you here with me
Tra-la-la-ling we’ll sing for the night that’s coming

At dark the stars come dancing out
On the water falling
Sparkling they float about

You should be my darling
You should be my darling
All the stars are sparkling
And you should be my darling
You should be my darling

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over the Bush Music (BMI)

Dream Lover
(Linda Emerson/Alan Bennett)

I spied you in a forest green
Strumming a lute by a silver stream
I watched you through the parted leaves
Singing a love song so sweet

Love you slipped away from me
Lost with the light of the dawn
Gone always so suddenly
Leaving me here all alone

I saw you at the market square
A garland of myrtle twined in your hair
Smiling eyes in the crowded fair
Find me and then disappear

Love you slip away from me
Lost with the light of the dawn
Gone always so suddenly
Leaving me here all alone

(Musical bridge)

I’ve searched for you endlessly
In every dream you return to me
I would sleep for eternity
Just to keep you here with me
With me

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over the Bush Music (BMI)

Apology
(Linda Emerson)

Apology
You’re standing here and telling me that you’re sorry
Well no one’s fallen out of love intentionally
No I’m not angry
Oh honestly
I saw the stars shine in your eyes and you loved me
So beautifully
That’s mine to keep
I’ll get along
My roots are deep for times like these when the winds blow strong
Without the stones a singing brook would lose its song
You’ve done nothing wrong
And I won’t forget
I know how sometimes clouds can make a great sunset
And I’m not through yet
I’ll be okay
As sure as darkness fades into a brand new day
I’ll find another love to chase my blues away
Like you did babe
Like you did babe

(Harmonica)

And I won’t forget
I know how sometimes clouds can make a great sunset
And I’m not through yet

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI)

(Used to Be) Our Old Hometown
(Linda Emerson)

GIRL:
There used to be a cafe
With coffee cups and ashtrays
The old men in the small town
Would go there every Saturday

They’d sit across the table
To see each other’s faces
Or over by the window
So they could read the paper

They liked their coffee good and black
They never sent a sandwich back
I heard their voices cracking jokes
They’d laugh and talk and sip and smoke
There used to be a cafe

BOY:
There used to be a pool hall
With Asteroids and pinball
A barber chair up in the front
And pocket knives and candy jars

There used to be a jukebox
Over in the corner
With silver knobs and colored lights
It only took a quarter

It had to hold a hundred songs
From Neil Young to the Rolling Stones
Depending on the mood you’re in
You’d sit and listen with your friends
There used to be a pool hall

TOGETHER:
There was a fairground with a Ferris wheel
Although they used it once a year
They kept the bandshell painted up
It was kinda small but big enough

There were live bands every Friday night
On the local hotel marquee lights
And hopefully they sounded good
If you drank enough you knew they would
It used to be our old hometown

GIRL:
It used to be our hometown
But one by one the stores closed down

BOY:
We went away it all shut down
Without a word without a sound

GIRL:
I go there in my memory
And every time you’re there with me

BOY:
We’d talk about the weather

GIRL:
We’d dream about forever

BOTH:
We used to be together
It used to be our old hometown
It used to be our old hometown
It used to be our old hometown

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Just Another Train
(Linda Emerson)

Just another train
Rolling down the track
It’s just another train
Never coming back

Ah-hooooo-hooooo
Ah-hooooo-hooooo
Just a little tear
Falling from my eye
It’s just another tear
That I won’t have to cry

Ah-hooooo-hooooo
Ah-hooooo-hooooo
Broken hearts are free
Broken hearts are free

[Instrumental]

Just another day
Since you said goodbye
It’s just another day
Just another clear blue sky
Ah-hooooo-hooooo
Ah-hooooo-hooooo
Ah-hooooo-hooooo

© 2016 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson

September 27, 2015:

Announcing the worldwide release of Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson (Black Chesterfield), a compilation of songs about night, stars and dreaming written by Linda Emerson with vocals by Andrea Zonn, Stacey Randol, Sammy Barrett and Vince Scheuerman.

Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson
Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson © ℗ 2015 Black Chesterfield. All rights reserved.

Available NOW! Preview / Download: iTunes | Amazon
To purchase a CD, send your request via the form on our Contact page.

Produced by Alan Bennett
All songs written by Linda Emerson (except “Song on the Radio” and “Ferris Wheel” written by Linda Emerson and Alan Bennett)
Recorded by Brendan Harkin at Wildwood Recording Studio in Franklin, Tennessee
Mixed by Craig Alvin at The Great Gazoo Reading Room in Nashville, Tennessee
Mastered by Shelley Anderson at Black Lab Mastering in Louisville, Kentucky
Artwork by Kelly McKernan
Executive Producer: Ken Emerson

Musicians: Alan Bennett (Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Tambourine); Andy Leftwich (Mandolin, Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar); Derrek Phillips (Drums, Percussion); Brett Resnick (Pedal Steel); Jeff Taylor (Accordion, Dolceola, Organ, Piano, Whistles); Brian Zonn (Upright Bass).

TRACKING LISTING:
Big Bang (3:18) feat. Stacey Randol
Blue Enough to Drown In (3:37) feat. Sammy Barrett
Anne Marie (3:21) feat. Vince Scheuerman
Song on the Radio (2:46) feat. Sammy Barrett
Gavan (2:34) feat. Andrea Zonn
New Orleans (3:27) feat. Sammy Barrett
Dreaming (3:06) feat. Stacey Randol
Ferris Wheel (3:25) feat. Andrea Zonn

(Lyrics)

Lyrics

Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson (Black Chesterfield) – Released on September 27, 2015

Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson
Big Bang: Songs by Linda Emerson © ℗ 2015 Linda Emerson. All rights reserved.

Big Bang
(Linda Emerson)

Big Bang
Too far out to make it home
Too much space to be alone (love)
Shimmer of familiar light
Shining in an endless night (love)
Fragments from another time
Collide and realign (love)

Big bang
The sky is full of stars
Big bang
Hold me in your arms
And we’ll rock on the waves
Rock on the waves
Rock on the waves of love

Universe created new
Fiery sun and silvery moon (love)
Sandy shores and singing trees
Get up baby off your knees (love)
Throw that fruit back on the ground
Take my hand and look around (love)
Big bang
The sea is full of stars
Big bang
Hold me in your arms
And we’ll rock on the waves
Rock on the waves
Rock on the waves of love

Gravity is pulling me to you
I’m sinking in your arms and there is nothing I can do
Open up the door and let’s go through

Big bang
Your eyes are full of stars
Big bang
Hold me in your arms
And we’ll rock on the waves
Rock on the waves
Rock on the waves of love
Rock on the waves of love

[music]

Big bang
Your eyes are full of stars
Big bang
Hold me in your arms
And we’ll rock on the waves
Rock on the waves
Rock on the waves of love

Yeah we’ll rock on the waves
Rock on the waves
Rock on the waves of love

Rock on the waves of love
Rock on the waves of love
Rock on the waves of love

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Blue Enough to Drown In
(Linda Emerson)

I know you say my eyes are blue
But when I close my eyelids to
And all I feel is you above
They take a different hue my love

They are pink with light and shimmering
Peach and white and billowing
In a free fall from cerulean
A free fall to oblivion

Are they blue enough to drown in
Are they blue enough to pull you in
Are they blue
Are they blue
Enough to drown in
Are they blue

They are sapphire stars unfrozen
They are flashes neath the ocean
A glacial explosion
Whirling pools in motion

Yeah they are water they are swirling
They are deep sea fronds unfurling
They are waves that crash and curl in
And pound back out against my skin

But are they blue enough to drown in
Are they blue enough to pull you in
Are they blue
Are they blue
Enough to drown in
Are they blue

You keep on floating on the surface
Drifting shoreward with the current
Are they blue
Blue enough to drown in drown in drown in
Are they blue
I know that you are sinking
I know I feel you sinking in
But are they blue

Are they blue enough to drown in
Are they blue enough to pull you in
Are they blue
Are they blue
Enough to drown in
Are they blue
Are they blue
Are they blue

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Anne Marie
(Linda Emerson)

Nights on the strand
June 1970
We lay down on the sand
By the sea
With the stars in your eyes
Anne Marie

Now it never gets dark
In these city back yards
And the stars
They don’t shine shine for me
Like they did way back then
Anne Marie

Come take my hand
Walk there with me
Through the stars through the stars
Oh memory
Shine for me shine for me
Anne Marie

(music)

No it never gets dark
In these city back yards
And the stars
They don’t shine shine for me
Like they did way back then
Anne Marie

Shine for me shine for me
Anne Marie
Shine for me shine for me
Anne Marie

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Song on the Radio
(Linda Emerson, Alan Bennett)

I’m the song on the radio you know
Keep me playing baby play me soft and low
Turn me up when you’re feeling in the mood
Sha la la la I’m always there for you

Coming to you on the all night oldies show
AM station in the midnight dashboard glow
Riding shotgun in the seat right by your side
Smiling with you just like all those good old times

I’m the song on the radio you know
Keep me playing baby play me soft and low
Turn me up when you’re feeling in the mood
Sha la la la I’m always there for you

A11 on the jukebox at the corner
Baby play me when you’re down to your last quarter
Don’t be lonely cause I’m only a touch away
Yesterday is here to stay

(music)

A11 on the jukebox at the corner
Baby play me when you’re down to your last quarter
Don’t be lonely cause I’m only a touch away
Yesterday is here to stay

I’m the song on the radio
I’m the song on the radio
Turn me up when you’re feeling in the mood
Sha la la la I’m always there for you

On the radio
Only a touch away
On the radio
Only a touch away
On the radio
Only a touch away
On the radio
Only a touch away

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over The Bush Music (BMI)

Gavan
(Linda Emerson)

Gavan how did you wind up in this place
Nashville is oceans away from Athlone but
I knew you as soon as I looked on your face
Gavan it seems like I’ve loved you always

I was just sitting there on a bar stool
I was just happy holding you close
Some paths are paved a long time ago

Clear was the way to your heart from mine
Gavan I saw the light in your eyes shining
Sweet was the song when our souls retwined
Gavan it haunts me all of the time

I was just sitting there on a bar stool
I was just happy taking you home
Some dreams just stay in our blood and our bones

Gavan

(music)

I know I told you I wouldn’t write
Gavan I know how much it could cost you
I played the game and I know the lines
Gavan I cross them every night

I am just sitting here on this bar stool
I am just waiting here all alone
Nashville is oceans away from Athlone

I miss you Gavan
I miss you so

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI)

New Orleans
(Linda Emerson)

You have him home every day
Locked in a golden love cage
So it seems
But I know where he goes
Yeah I know where he drifts
When he dreams
It’s New Orleans

Cause we held hands in the park
We lay all night neath those dark
Live Oak trees
All those kisses he gave
Oh those kisses he gave
Soft and sweet
In New Orleans

We woke up the next day
To the music they played
In the street
And we danced in the rain
In the rain with no shoes
On our feet
In New Orleans

(music)

If it’s for better or worse
I’m glad that you got there first
Cause I’m free
And when that door opens wide
Your little birdie will fly
Back to me
And New Orleans

And we’ll go dance every day
To the music they play
Soft and sweet
Hand in hand in the rain
Once again with no shoes
Down the streets
Of New Orleans

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Dreaming
(Linda Emerson)

Well I’m looking at stars
While you’re counting the cracks in the ceiling
There’s nothing up there worth believing

While you stare at the walls
And you wait by a phone that’s not ringing
Outside the night birds are singing

Oh my love
Oh my love
Come and see me
Oh my love
Oh my love
Yeah I’m dreaming

Your hearts torn and its black
And it’s bruised and it’s blue
and it’s bleeding
Maybe it’s broke but its beating beating

Oh my love
Oh my love
Come and see me
Oh my love
Oh my love
Yeah I’m dreaming

(music)

I’ll be waiting for you
In the moonbeams and blossoms and night winds
Open your window and breathe in
Just breathe in

Oh my love
Oh my love
Come and see me
Oh my love
Oh my love
Yeah I’m dreaming
Oh my love
Oh my love
Come and see me
Oh my love
Oh my love

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI)

Ferris Wheel
(Linda Emerson, Alan Bennett)

Our love was big like a Ferris wheel
Way up in the sky
You took my hand baby what a thrill
The world was yours and mine

Yeah it was me and you
In a seat for two
High above the crowd
Neon lights Friday night
Goin’ round and round and round

We floated free on a diamond sea
To the bright side of the moon
We hitched a ride on a flying star
That landed way too soon

Me and you
In a seat for two
High above the crowd
Neon lights Friday night
Goin’ round and round and round

Swing and sway Milky Way
Arms around me tight
Swing and sway but we couldn’t stay
We couldn’t stay that high
(music)

I’m looking now at the Ferris wheel
Way up in the sky
But it’s all a blur
Because where we were
There’s a new love by your side

Oh it was me with you
In that seat for two
High above the crowd
Neon lights Friday night
Goin’ round and round and round

Me and you
In a seat for two
High above the crowd
Neon lights Friday night
Goin’ round and round and round

Up in a Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
Love’s a Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel
Hmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmm

© 2015 Linda Emerson (BMI), Over The Bush Music (BMI)