If you listen to Emily Ann Roberts’ new song “The Fence” and begin to visualize all the elements of her breakup story, you’re doing it right. She visualized them, too.
In fact, Roberts is a bit of a songwriting unicorn in that she lets the visual elements of a song’s potential release lead.
“I like to think about, what does the cover art look like? What is the supporting content on social media look like? What does the music video look like? I dive into all of that,” she tells Taste of Country.
For this song, she also pictured her own back story. Paul Sikes had the idea for “The Fence” and Jessi Alexander helped him and Roberts finish it.
“He’s sippin’ that Kentucky / Staring at the setting sun / One part of me feels lucky one part wants to run / When he hears the tin roof raining / I feel a restless wind / There’s a good man on the porch / And I’m on the fence,” she sings at the chorus.
“For me, in past relationships, I know the breakups that have hurt my heart the worst are the ones where you know the other person is a great person and is going to make somebody a great partner. It’s just not you,” the former runner-up on The Voice (Season 9) admits.
“When you break up with somebody and you hate ‘em, it’s a lot easier.”
Now married, Roberts accesses those dark memories willingly. She says it’s “fun” to feel pain and sorrow when writing and performing. Fun!
“I’ve been in town 10 years now and when I was young music was nothing but just my passion and my hobby. Now it’s how I make a living,” she says. “It’s very hard to balance that … so when I’m able to write songs like ‘The Fence’ that make me feel something again and take me back to a time in my life, it’s exciting to me even if it is sad.”
“I’m back and forth like that rocking chair he’s rocking in” is another exquisite lyric from “The Fence.”
Starstruck Records
Those who watched Roberts on The Voice will be happy to know she’s very much the same girl, just more mature and experienced. Blake Shelton kept in touch and even toured with her over the last few years. His manager Narvel Blackstock became her manager, and he stressed patience.
That meant a lot of waiting to release the right song at the right time. It meant finding her true voice.
“I’m not a mysterious girl,” she’ll say about her songwriting, and maybe her personality. “And when it comes to my music I don’t want to confuse people. I wanna communicate and make sure they know what I’m trying to say and they understand it.”
That kind of “three chords and the truth” approach works well for “The Fence.”
Emily Ann Roberts, “The Fence” Lyrics:
He’s a Bible on the dash of his Chevy / Give the shirt off his back / Salt of the earth, steady as the dirt / He kicks on the welcome mat / He’s worked hard for a half-hundred acres / It’s heaven far as you can see / He don’t need much, just the two of us / Sittin’ on a hickory swing.
Chorus:
He’s sippin’ that Kentucky / Starin’ at the settin’ sun / One part of me feels lucky / One part wants to run / When he hears a tin roof rainin’ / I feel a restless wind / There’s a good man on the porch / And I’m on the fence.
What if these drеams I’m dreamin’ / Take me past thе county line / The town gets small and the highway calls / And I need to touch the sky / No, it ain’t so cut and dry.
Repeat Chorus
If I settle down, would I wonder ’bout / What’s around the bend, every now and then / I’m back and forth / Like that rockin’ chair he’s rockin’ in.
Repeat Chorus
Country Music’s 50 Best Breakup Songs
When your heart is hurting, country music has the right song for you. Check out the best country breakup songs of all time, from Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Keith Urban and more.
