Emma (Hot Chocolate song)
| "Emma" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.png) Belgian 7" vinyl single cover | ||||
| Single by Hot Chocolate | ||||
| from the album Cicero Park | ||||
| B-side | "Makin’ Music" (UK) "A Love Like Yours" (US) | |||
| Released | 25 February 1974 | |||
| Genre | British soul[1] | |||
| Length | 3:52 | |||
| Label | RAK, Big Tree (US) | |||
| Songwriters | Errol Brown, Tony Wilson | |||
| Producer | Mickie Most | |||
| Hot Chocolate singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Emma" (TopPop, 1974) on YouTube | ||||
"Emma" is a 1974 song by the British soul band Hot Chocolate. Written by band members Errol Brown (vocals) and Tony Wilson (music), the song addresses themes of suicide, early death and lost childhood. Brown's lyrics celebrate his then recently deceased mother. Its rawness was developed after producer Mickie Most asked him for further "depth and darkness".[2]
"Emma" reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Lyrics
[edit]The song details the love of the (nameless) singer and a girl called Emmalene from the age of five, through a wedding at 17 until her suicide at an unspecified later date. Emma it seems wanted to be a "movie queen" but could never find the breaks and eventually kills herself because she "just can't keep on living on dreams no more."
Chart history
[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
|
Year-end charts[edit]
|
Certifications
[edit]| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[14] | Silver | 250,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Cover versions
[edit]- A version by Đorđe Marjanović with new lyrics in Serbo-Croatian and titled "Ema, Emili" was released on the b-side of one of his 1974 singles. It also appeared on his 1975 album A život teče dalje....
- Earth Quake recorded a cover version for their 1977 album, Leveled.
- The Sisters of Mercy started performing the song live in 1983. The studio version was released on the b-side of the 12" version of their 1988 single, "Dominion", and on the 2006 re-release of the album, Floodland. A much-bootlegged alternate version from a 1984 John Peel radio session was officially released in 2021 on the "BBC Sessions 1982–1984" compilation.
- Urge Overkill recorded a version for 1990 Touch and Go Records release, The Supersonic Storybook.
References
[edit]- ↑ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "This Is How You Disappear: Bristol, Shoegazing, and a New Psychedelia". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 681. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
- ↑ Magee, Matthew (4 February 2009). "Hot Chocolate's Errol Brown: The accidental superstar". The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1975-05-10. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
- ↑ "Emma | IRMA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ↑ "Flavour of New Zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2026-04-27.
- ↑ "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
- ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 4/26/75". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 2026-04-27.
- ↑ "National Top 100 Singles for 1974". Kent Music Report. December 30, 1974. Retrieved 15 January 2022 – via Imgur.
- ↑ "Top Singles for 1974". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications: 20. 4 January 1975.
- ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
- ↑ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1975". Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ↑ "British single certifications – Hot Chocolate – Emma". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 April 2022. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Emma Hot Chocolate in the "Search:" field.
