Emma, I'm sorry for you. 
Going away with a man you don't love
Looks like the good Lord has given you up
Emma, I'm sorry for you.

She loves her father so well
But, he married another when her mama died
And Emma married someone too just out of spite
But, she loves her father so well

When Emma was only 16
She married a man her father's age
She told him that her stepmama drove her away
When Emma was only 16

She married a Cherokee city man
With cold, cruel hands and jealous eyes
She says when he goes out to drink he locks her in at 
night
Yeah, she married a Cherokee city man 

Emma wears a tin, dime-store charm
And the last time she left she tore off that wedding 
band
So Emma wears a tin, dime-store charm

There's a man who's coming for her
A black-hatted man with a weed in his mouth
Emma's husband sent this man to bring her back to town
There's a man who's coming for her

She's cried for two days now
She doesn't want to leave her family again
She begs, "Please don't let that black-hatted man in!"
Yeah, she's cried for two days now 

She longs for a stranger to love
Late in the night, deep in her sleep
Emma dreams of kindness and mystery
Yeah, she longs for a stranger to love