The song, “When I’m Gone” by Eminem, is about the artist’s relationships with his daughter and wife. It is clear from the song that Eminem is a violent, abusive man, yet one who loves his daughter. The central message of the song is the idea that “You’ve got one more chance to do it right. ” That resonates with me, and I believe that with all my heart. First of all, there are a lot of things Eminem raps about that I don’t agree with. But then, neither does he. The line, “Then turn around and tell her that you love her, and put hands on her mother, who’s a spitting image of her.
That’s Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady’s crazy. ” Here, Eminem talks about how crazy it is to tell his daughter he loves her and then go straight into the house and start abusing his wife-“a spitting image” of his daughter. It seems as if Eminem is saying that he knows this is wrong, but that he is unable to control himself. That is not the way I live my life. While there are times my temper gets the best of me, and I act like a “Slim Shady-crazy,” I’ve never let myself get so out of control that I’ve put hands on my wife. And I never will.
Secondly, Eminem raps about the damage this kind of behavior is inflicting on his daughter. Over and over again, the poor little girl tries to win the love of her daddy and get him to be more of a real father. Eminem raps about several abusive incidents, and after each one, his daughter approaches him with some kind of offering, trying to get him to be more of a real dad. After an incident where Eminem is caught in a lie (he promised he wouldn’t leave again), his daughter says;
“You lied to me Dad, and now you make Mommy sad. And I bought you this coin, it says ‘Number One Dad. That’s all I wanted; I just want to give you this coin. ” Giving her dad the coin is a way of the little of pleading for her dad to man up and BE a dad. It’s a poignant message that Eminem takes to heart as he battles his own ego, drive to be a success, and demons. I can relate to that. I’ve made mistakes, been less of a man, a husband, and a dad than I wanted to be. We can see in the song that Eminem is trying to be a better man, and that resonates with me. Finally, the real center of the song for me are the lines where he interprets his daughter’s gifts.
He says; “They’re saying ‘You’ve got one more chance to do right, –and it’s tonight. ’ Now go out there and show that you love ‘em before it’s too late. ” That line is the emotional center of the song and the line that makes it a great song. This shows the central conflict in Eminem’s life: the battle between he fights with himself every day trying to balance his aspirations as a rapper, his violent tendencies, and the central desire to be a good and loving dad to his girl, and a good husband to his wife.
