Eminem - When I'm Gone

                 I have had a really hard time deciding what I wanted to do for music, so I chose to talk about Eminem and his song “When I’m Gone”.  Eminem is a rapper, songwriter, record producer, and an actor whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Before he was very famous for being a white rapper, but that hype has died down in recent years. He has had many family problems. When he was younger, his father left them and his mother became a druggie. Due to this problem at home, the government took his brother away; Eminem grew up taking care of himself and his family as well as he could. Later on, Eminem married his high school sweetheart Kimberly Anne Scott, and with her he had his daughter Hailie. Eminem was married to Kimberly twice and divorced her twice. Now both parents have joint custody over Hailie. The song “When I’m Gone” talks about Marshal Mathers’ feeling toward his daughter during the divorce. It explains her confusion about the whole situation, and Eminem’s response to that. Not only in this song, but also in many songs Eminem discusses his family hardships and the difficulties he has encountered in his life.

            The first theme in the song is using love as an excuse. From the lyrics and Eminem’s history, he keeps leaving his family to pursue his career. In no way has Eminem been bad to his family. The flaw is expecting the same love when he is in and out of the house. He expects to come home and be loved when in reality his family just wishes he would stay home and stop leaving. He is taking advantage of the family love. He keeps acknowledging that he is going away from home and upsetting his family, but says that he loves them and shrugs aside the problem. Eminem even explains how upset his daughter is about the situation, but he keeps performing for people pushing his daughter aside. The second theme is speaking from the future. The refrain of the whole song is Eminem talking from his grave. He is telling Hailie a message and telling her he loves her and not to be sad anymore. Marshal Mathers can definitely tell her the same thing currently, but chooses to put it in future tense. Eminem is stating and reassuring the idea that he will be away from his family and they again will feel the same about him and wish he were back home. He is apologizing from the future. 

            I find this beautiful for the first reason, the music video. The music video depicts the lyrics just as they are. It is an emotional visualization of the whole problem and it is very sad. I consider Eminem a strong, almost intimidating kind of guy. So when I see this man getting very emotional for his daughter, it is heartbreaking. I think the love a parent has for their child is the most beautiful thing ever. It is unconditional and there forever. Hailie is very upset over everything now, but when Eminem does pass away she will have this song to look back to. The reassuring, loving, positive, and caring message after death in this song just proves Eminem’s love for his daughter. I think that it is amazing how Marshal Mathers went through so many family problems as a child and has found a way to have the biggest love for his own family despite his past. Using the past to make a better future for oneself is such a positive message, and the pain and love shown in this song is the exact representation of Eminem’s evolution from the past. I slightly tear up every time I hear this song.