Eminem – Kim – Lyrics analysis, interpretation and meaning

Read the Songwriting – Lyrics analysis

Written by Eminem, it crudely tells is about his real couple relationship with his girlfriend Kim.

Instead of telling us a nice love story like so many songs would, Eminem tells the exact contrary, a murderous break-up scene. It’s not another You and me, it’s a very special I end you.

Kim – Music video

Kim – Lyrics

Prologue

Aww look at daddy’s baby girl
That’s daddy’s baby
Little sleepy head
Yesterday I changed your diaper
Wiped you and powdered you
How did you get so big?
I can’t believe it now you’re two
Baby you’re so precious
Daddy’s so proud of you

Verse 1

(Totally different voice: now very angry and aggressive)
Sit down, bitch!
If you move again I’ll beat the shit out of you!
(Okay)
Don’t make me wake this baby
She don’t need to see what I’m about to do
Quit crying, bitch, why do you always make me shout at you?
How could you? Just leave me and love him out the blue
Oh, what’s the matter Kim? Am I too loud for you?
Too bad, bitch, you’re gonna finally hear me out this time
At first, I’m like all right. You wanna throw me out? That’s fine!
But not for him to take my place, are you out your mind?
This couch, this TV, this whole house, it’s mine!
How could you let him sleep in our bed?
Look at Kim! Look at your husband now!
(No!)
I said look at him! He ain’t so hot now is he?
Little punk!
(Why are you doing this?)
Shut the fuck up!
(You’re drunk! You’re never going to get away at this!)
You think I give a fuck!
Come on we’re going for a ride, bitch!
(No!)
Sit up front!
– Well, I can’t just leave Hailie alone, what if she wakes up? –
We’ll be right back –
Well, I will, you’ll be in the trunk!

Chorus

So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you
So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you

Verse 2

You really fucked me Kim
You really did a number on me
Never knew me cheating on you would come back to haunt me
But we was kids then Kim, I was only 18!
That was years ago!
I thought we wiped the slate clean!
That’s fucked up!
(I love you!)
Oh, God, my brain is racing
(I love you!)
What are you doing?
Change the station I hate this song!
Does this look like a big joke?
(No!)
There’s a four year old boy lyin’ dead with a slit throat
In your living room, ha-ha
What you think I’m kiddin’ you?
You loved him, didn’t you?
(No!)
Bullshit you, bitch, don’t fucking lie to me
– What the fuck’s this guy’s problem on the side of me???
Fuck you asshole, yeah, bite me!!! –
Kim! KIM!!!
Why don’t you like me?
You think I’m ugly don’t you??
(It’s not that!)
No, you think I’m ugly!
(Baby)
Get the fuck away from me, don’t touch me!!
I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!!!
I SWEAR TO GOD, I HATE YOU!
(Oh my god I love you…)
How the fuck could you do this to me?
(Sorry!)
How the fuck could you do this to me???

Chorus

So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you
So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you

Verse 3

Come on get out!
(I can’t I’m scared!)
I said get out, bitch!
(Let go of my hair, please don’t do this, baby!
Please I love you, look we can just take Hailie and leave…)
Fuck you! you did this to us!
You did it, it’s your fault!
Oh, my God, I’m crackin’ up,
Get a grip Marshall!!
Hey remember the time we went to Brian’s party?
And you were like so drunk that you threw up all over Archie
That was funny, wasn’t it?
(Yes!)
That was funny, wasn’t it??
(Yes!!)
See it all makes sense, doesn’t it?
You and your husband have a fight
One of you tries to grab a knife
And during the struggle he accidentally gets his Adam’s apple sliced
(No!)
And while this is goin’ on
His son just woke up and he just walks in
She panics and he gets his throat cut
(Oh, my God!)
So now they’re both dead and you slash your own throat
So now it’s double homicide and suicide with no note
I should have known better when you started to act weird
We could’ve… HEY! Where you going? Get back here!
You can’t run from me, Kim!
It’s just us, nobody else!
You’re only making this harder on yourself
Ha! Ha! Got’cha!
(Ah!)
Ha! Go ahead, yell!
Here I’ll scream with you!
AH, SOMEBODY HEEEEELP!!!!!!
Don’t you get it, bitch, no one can hear you??
Now shut the fuck up and get what’s coming to you
You were supposed to love me!!!
[Kim choking]
NOW BLEED! BITCH, BLEED!!!!
BLEED! BITCH, BLEEEED!!!!! BLEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!!!!!

Chorus

So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you
So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you

Lyrics analysis, interpretation and meaning

Note: we’ll analyse the lyrics using our concepts from the storytelling vocabulary page.

Prologue

The song starts with 10 seconds of pure lullaby: a Capella, with some nice bells in the background, a “daddy” addresses his baby girl, Hailie, now 2 years old, and speaks to her softly, kindly, saying he’s proud of her and that she’s precious to him.

Aww look at daddy’s baby girl
That’s daddy’s baby
Little sleepy head
Yesterday I changed your diaper
Wiped you and powdered you
How did you get so big?
I can’t believe it now you’re two
Baby you’re so precious
Daddy’s so proud of you

At the 10 seconds mark, the music turns more orchestral, with piano and strings, also more dramatic.

Exposition. There’s no real action yet, but we have an initial situation to build on.

Verse 1

At 20 seconds, the father now addresses his girlfriend, in a totally different tone:

Sit down, bitch!
If you move again I’ll beat the shit out of you!
(Okay)

From clear and nice, the music now becomes tense, heavy and aggressive. The piano loop goes on, submerged by a powerful beat-line.

Catalyst. The Goal isn’t very precise yet, but much of the information becomes clear: the father-singer is the Hero, the girlfriend his Enemy, and the problem comes from their relationship.
We start hearing a female voice, the one of Kim, Eminem’s girlfriend, interpreted by Eminem. She sounds upset and scared. He yells at her:

Don’t make me wake this baby
She don’t need to see what I’m about to do
Quit crying, bitch, why do you always make me shout at you?
How could you? Just leave me and love him out the blue

For the audience, this element clarifies the problem: the couple is fighting because she cheated on him with another guy. By the way, we have here an effect of information distribution: he gives us an element that they both knew and that we did not know yet.

Oh, what’s the matter Kim? Am I too loud for you?
Too bad, bitch, you’re gonna finally hear me out this time
At first, I’m like all right. You wanna throw me out? That’s fine!
But not for him to take my place, are you out your mind?
This couch, this TV, this whole house, it’s mine!
How could you let him sleep in our bed?
Look at Kim! Look at your husband now!
(No!)
I said look at him! He ain’t so hot now is he?
Little punk!
(Why are you doing this?)
Shut the fuck up!
(You’re drunk! You’re never going to get away at this!)
You think I give a fuck!
Come on we’re going for a ride, bitch!
(No!)
Sit up front!
– Well, I can’t just leave Hailie alone, what if she wakes up? –
We’ll be right back –
Well, I will, you’ll be in the trunk!

This makes the Catalyst more precise. Now, the action has a clear direction: he wants to bring her on a car ride. Why? We don’t know yet, but the information according to what she’ll be in the trunk, sounds scary. We just entered the Act II of this couple’s fight plot.

Chorus

So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you
So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you

The powerful beat stays the same, the piano is replaced by melancholic strings.

Dramatically speaking, this chorus doesn’t bring any new information and doesn’t move the action forward. Its role is simply to underline the drama going on and the deep ambivalence of the Hero, who wants to kill his girlfriend and die himself at the same time. We’ll find the same ambivalence in the other two linked songs.

Verse 2

You really fucked me Kim
You really did a number on me
Never knew me cheating on you would come back to haunt me
But we was kids then Kim, I was only 18!
That was years ago!
I thought we wiped the slate clean!
That’s fucked up!
(I love you!)
Oh, God, my brain is racing
(I love you!)

That’s an element of their backstory. The rest of the lyrics will give us some other details.

What are you doing?
Change the station I hate this song!
Does this look like a big joke?
(No!)

This line sounds ironic, a singer who says he hates a song… By the way, this information confirms that the stage of the action is now the car, as he previously announced.

There’s a four year old boy lyin’ dead with a slit throat
In your living room, ha-ha
What you think I’m kiddin’ you?
You loved him, didn’t you?
(No!)
Bullshit you, bitch, don’t fucking lie to me

We do not know exactly why he tells her this element of a plot that will stay untold, but the fictitious scene looks frightening once again, mixing the themes of childhood and murder together, it plays the role of announcing us what is going to happen to her in the rest of the song and in “97′ Bonnie & Clyde“.

– What the fuck’s this guy’s problem on the side of me???
Fuck you asshole, yeah, bite me!!! –

It’s a reminder of the situation: a couple having a fight in a car driving in the traffic, which is dangerous and makes the tension rise up.
Actually this main plot has 2 sides: 1, the physical movement in space, and 2, the verbal fight.

Kim! KIM!!!
Why don’t you like me?
You think I’m ugly don’t you??
(It’s not that!)
No, you think I’m ugly!
(Baby)
Get the fuck away from me, don’t touch me!!
I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!!!
I SWEAR TO GOD, I HATE YOU!
(Oh my god I love you…)
How the fuck could you do this to me?
(Sorry!)
How the fuck could you do this to me???

Those lines develop the conflict emotionally, without adding new elements to it.

Chorus

So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you
So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you

Nothing new.

Verse 3

Come on get out!
(I can’t I’m scared!)
I said get out, bitch!
(Let go of my hair, please don’t do this, baby!
Please I love you, look we can just take Hailie and leave…)
Fuck you! you did this to us!
You did it, it’s your fault!
Oh, my God, I’m crackin’ up,
Get a grip Marshall!!

This element allows the audience to clearly state the fact that Eminem, Marshall Mathers, and the Hero of this song, are the same person. As Marshall Mathers had created the character of Eminem who created the character of The Slim Shady, it’s now Eminem who, in his album named “The Marshall Mathers LP”, tells us the autobiography of Marshall… Kim and Hailie are the names of Marshall’s girlfriend and daughter, in real life as in the song.

Hey remember the time we went to Brian’s party?
And you were like so drunk that you threw up all over Archie
That was funny, wasn’t it?
(Yes!)
That was funny, wasn’t it??
(Yes!!)

This element of psychological torture, leads us to a crescendo of violence to the final scene.

See it all makes sense, doesn’t it?
You and your husband have a fight
One of you tries to grab a knife
And during the struggle he accidentally gets his Adam’s apple sliced
(No!)
And while this is goin’ on
His son just woke up and he just walks in
She panics and he gets his throat cut
(Oh, my God!)
So now they’re both dead and you slash your own throat
So now it’s double homicide and suicide with no note!

This leads us back to the “4 years old boy” story we previously met. It’s actually the same story, that is developed in more detail here.

Technically, it’s another plot, mounted in parallel. Aesthetically, that’s interesting: in “Kim“, there’s exactly the same mirror pattern as in “Stan” between the fan and Eminem having parallel lives. It’s like all dramas are one and all stories are the same.

I should have known better when you started to act weird
We could’ve… HEY! Where you going? Get back here!
You can’t run from me, Kim!
It’s just us, nobody else!
You’re only making this harder on yourself
Ha! Ha! Got’cha!
(Ah!)

Beginning of the Act III and of the Crisis – the Hero is at the point of reaching his Goal, which is to kill his Enemy.

Ha! Go ahead, yell!
Here I’ll scream with you!
AH, SOMEBODY HEEEEELP!!!!!!
Don’t you get it, bitch, no one can hear you??
Now shut the fuck up and get what’s coming to you
You were supposed to love me!!!
[Kim choking]
NOW BLEED! BITCH, BLEED!!!!
BLEED! BITCH, BLEEEED!!!!! BLEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!!!!!

Climax. It’s the highest point of the plot, the most intense: the murder.

Chorus

So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you
So long,
bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t want to go on
Living in this world…
without you

The line “I don’t want to go on / Living in this world without you” now sounds very ironic, because he has just killed her, so he just decided to do what he claims he didn’t want, = living without her.

EPILOGUE

From 5:20 to 5:50, the music calms down: no vocals any more, the beat gets softer then totally stops, the melancholic violin becomes the main instrument, and this musical moment just feels sad.

It’s a moment of emotional release for the audience, after this hyperdramatic crisis. The absence of lyrics lets us imagine the scene and feel the feelings of the main character.

At 5:42, we can now hear some noises that we’ll take a few seconds to identify as the sound of the inert body of Kim assassinated and transported by Marshall to the trunk of the car. Over the noises of the night – some cicadas singing – we can hear :

• Something heavy being dragged on the ground
• A car passing by, without stopping, which shows that Marshall’s car is simply parked on the side of the road
• A key opening the trunk
• The body being put in the trunk, and the trunk being closed.
• End of the track.

Commentary

How many plots in this song?

There’s one main plot, that tells about a couple fighting.

There are elements of other plots – like the mother who kills her husband and their boy – but just as a parallel situation that does not get developed in a complete storyline.

How many actantial characters are in this main plot?

There are 2 actantial characters:

• The Hero, Marshall.
• The Antagonist, Kim.

3 other characters are evocated in the song.

• Kim and Marshall’s baby girl, Hailie, is a thematic character but has no actantial role, because she is not for or against the goals of the two main characters.
• The unnamed man Kim slept with, could be considered a Helper of Kim if he would be present in the current plot; but his only role is being the cause of Marshall’s anger, and he’s not there to protect Kim against Marshall, so he is not an actantial character.
• As a driver, Marshall has a problem with another driver, but that does not influence the action, so this character is not actantial either.

So actually, the structure of characters in this song is very minimal:

• Husband vs Wife, and that’s it.