July 27th, 2010
Eminem & Dido – Stan
Here is this week’s song. Note that the lyrics are explicit.
Eminem (real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III) is considered the greatest rapper of all time and according to Rolling Stone magazine one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time. According to Billboard, he has sold over 80 million albums and two of his albums are in the top five albums of the 2000′s. He has had nine number one albums and thirteen number one singles. His music has won eleven Grammy awards and one Oscar.
Eminem was raised by his mother in poverty. His father had abandoned the family when he was two years old. Eminem started rapping when he was 14 years old under the name of M&M. He repeated the ninth grade twice of truancy and dropped out of high school when he was 17. Musically, everything came together in 1999 with the release of the album The Slim Shady LP which sold over 250,000 copies its first week out and went to become 4X platinum. But it was his second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which broke every record selling almost 2 million copies its first week out becoming the fastest selling hip-hop album and the fastest-selling solo album in US history. Eminem has had problems with alcohol, prescription drugs, and the law although he claims that since 2005 he has sobered up. In addition to a daughter with his former wife Kimberly Scott he also adopted the two daughters of Kimberly Scott’s sister and is the legal guardian of his half-brother.
The song Stan is about an obsessed fan of Slim Shady (Eminem’s alter ego in his music). The first three verses of the song is Stan reading the letters he has written to Slim each becoming more obsessed and more angry as he waits from Slim to respond. The third verse is Stan creating a cassette as he drives his car off a bridge with his girlfriend locked in the trunk of his car. The final verse of the song is Slim writing a letter to Stan not realizing that Stan killed himself until the end. The chorus of the song is taken from the song Thank You by Dido, a British musician. When Stan came out, Thank You immediately jumped up the Billboard chart reaching number three in the US becoming Dido’s first US hit and pushing her album sales to over 21 million worldwide.
Note that the language in the song is explicit.
Stan
[Chorus: Dido]
My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I..
got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window..
and I can’t see at all
And even if I could it’d all be gray,
put your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it’s not so bad,
it’s not so bad..
[repeat]
[Eminem as 'Stan']
Dear Slim, I wrote but you still ain’t callin
I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone at the bottom
I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not-a got ‘em
There probably was a problem at the post office or something
Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot ‘em
but anyways; fuck it, what’s been up? Man how’s your daughter?
My girlfriend’s pregnant too, I’m about to be a father
If I have a daughter, guess what I’ma call her?
I’m a name her Bonnie
I read about your Uncle Ronnie too I’m sorry
I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn’t want him
I know you probably hear this everyday, but I’m your biggest fan
I even got the underground shit that you did with Skam
I got a room full of your posters and your pictures man
I like the shit you did with Rawkus too, that shit was phat
Anyways, I hope you get this man, hit me back,
just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan
This is Stan
[Chorus: Dido]
[Eminem as 'Stan']
Dear Slim, you still ain’t called or wrote, I hope you have a chance
I ain’t mad – I just think it’s FUCKED UP you don’t answer fans
If you didn’t wanna talk to me outside the concert
you didn’t have to, but you coulda signed an autograph for Matthew
That’s my little brother man, he’s only six years old
We waited in the blistering cold for you,
four hours and you just said, “No.”
That’s pretty shitty man – you’re like his fucking idol
He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do
I ain’t that mad though, I just don’t like being lied to
Remember when we met in Denver – you said if I’d write you
you would write back – see I’m just like you in a way
I never knew my father neither;
he used to always cheat on my mom and beat her
I can relate to what you’re saying in your songs
so when I have a shitty day, I drift away and put ‘em on
cause I don’t really got shit else so that shit helps when I’m depressed
I even got a tattoo with your name across the chest
Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds
It’s like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me
See everything you say is real, and I respect you ‘cos you tell it
My girlfriend’s jealous cause I talk about you 24/7
But she don’t know you like I know you Slim, no one does
She don’t know what it was like for people like us growin up
You gotta call me man, I’ll be the biggest fan you’ll ever lose
Sincerely yours, Stan — P.S.
We should be together too
[Chorus: Dido]
[Eminem as 'Stan']
Dear Mister-I’m-Too-Good-To-Call-Or-Write-My-Fans,
this’ll be the last package I ever send your ass
It’s been six months and still no word – I don’t deserve it?
I know you got my last two letters;
I wrote the addresses on ‘em perfect
So this is my cassette I’m sending you, I hope you hear it
I’m in the car right now, I’m doing 90 on the freeway
Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive?
You know the song by Phil Collins, “In the Air of the Night”
about that guy who coulda saved that other guy from drowning
but didn’t, then Phil saw it all, then at a show he found him?
That’s kinda how this is, you coulda rescued me from drowning
Now it’s too late – I’m on a 1000 downers now, I’m drowsy
and all I wanted was a lousy letter or a call
I hope you know I ripped ALL of your pictures off the wall
I love you Slim, we coulda been together, think about it
You ruined it now, I hope you can’t sleep and you dream about it
And when you dream I hope you can’t sleep and you SCREAM about it
I hope your conscience EATS AT YOU and you can’t BREATHE without me
See Slim; {*screaming*}
Shut up bitch! I’m trying to talk!
Hey Slim, that’s my girlfriend screamin in the trunk
but I didn’t slit her throat, I just tied her up, see I ain’t like you
cause if she suffocates she’ll suffer more, and then she’ll die too
Well, gotta go, I’m almost at the bridge now
Oh shit, I forgot, how am I supposed to send this shit out?
{*sound of crashing and car going into water*}
[Chorus: Dido]
[Eminem as Slim]
Dear Stan, I meant to write you sooner but I just been busy
You said your girlfriend’s pregnant now, how far along is she?
Look, I’m really flattered you would call your daughter that
and here’s an autograph for your brother,
I wrote it on the Starter cap
I’m sorry I didn’t see you at the show, I musta missed you
Don’t think I did that shit intentionally just to diss you
But what’s this shit you said about you like to cut your wrists too?
I say that shit just clowning dog,
c’mon – how fucked up is you?
You got some issues Stan, I think you need some counselling
to help your ass from bouncing off the walls when you get down some
And what’s this shit about us meant to be together?
That type of shit’ll make me not want us to meet each other
I really think you and your girlfriend need each other
or maybe you just need to treat her better
I hope you get to read this letter, I just hope it reaches you in time
before you hurt yourself, I think that you’ll be doin just fine
if you relax a little, I’m glad I inspire you but Stan
why are you so mad? Try to understand, that I do want you as a fan
I just don’t want you to do some crazy shit
I seen this one shit on the news a couple weeks ago that made me sick
Some dude was drunk and drove his car over a bridge
and had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid
and in the car they found a tape, but they didn’t say who it was to
Come to think about, his name was.. it was you
Damn!
