It seems like more people are listening to and/or reacting to Relapse recently. I’ve been seeing more and more reaction videos on YouTube for Relapse songs than I have in the past.
I’m all for it.
Relapse MAY BE my favorite album.
I’ve spent a great deal of time listening to and contextualizing it.
However, I also see a lot of people missing out on the full experience that the Relapse album can offer by listening to the tracks out of order, skipping over important content, or only listening to the “most shocking” or “most popular” songs.
It saddens me that so many people are missing out on the full experience and the multiple conceptual approaches that a listener could apply to the content as a whole.
So, since I’ve spent a significant amount of time with this material, I decided to provide some tips and notes that I discovered on my journey and may be helpful to some listeners who really want to see what Relapse has to offer.
If you’re doing an entire album listen/reaction to Relapse (as it is a concept album), here are some suggestions for the best listening experience.
1. Listen to the Relapse Refill version. No edited songs.
2. Listen to the tracks in order.
DO NOT SKIP THE SKITS.
I know you want to.
Don’t.
Note:
The skits include important plot points so you can follow the rough timeline of Shady’s pursuit of Marshall as well as the timeline chronicling the development of Marshall’s addiction overtime- the experiences from his childhood that increased his chances of suffering from addiction later in life, how fame contributed to and exacerbated those risks, and ultimately resulted in his near fatal overdose.
3. Pay very close attention to the name(s) used when he’s referring to himself and when others are talking to him. ALWAYS. IN ANY EMINEM CONTENT. PERIOD.
Note: It’s easier to sometimes imagine Slim Shady and Marshall as two completely different characters. Then dive deeper and think of them as parts of the same person.
(It’s arguable that the Eminem persona is absent for the majority of Relapse, appearing only in the Steve Berman Skit [The Receptionist refers to him as “Eminem”] and the infamous “Forever” collaboration, on which he refers to himself as “Shady”. I tend to align with this perspective on the Eminem persona’s presence on Relapse.)
Note:
Keeping track of which name is used is helpful for keeping track of the persona predominately associated with each track.
An Note On Insane:
In the song “Insane,” Slim Shady’s name is mentioned, but he’s being referred to in the third person.
Example: “That’s Shady, dog.”
Contextual Note:
In “My Mom” and “Insane,” Marshall is explaining how his alter ego/persona (as well as his likelihood to struggle with addiction later in life) developed from all these negative experiences during his childhood. The difficult experiences as kid, when he felt powerless and was victimized— these experiences created rage, hate, etc.
Because, while Slim Shady can represent drug addiction, he’s really the darkness that resides in all of us. Everyone has darkness inside of them; it just takes a different form depending on the person.
Hence those iconic lines from “The Real Slim Shady,” —
“And every single person is a Slim Shady lurkin’/He could be working at Burger King, spittin’ on your onion rings,/ Or in the parkin’ lot, circling, screaming, ‘I don’t give a fuck!’/ With his windows down and his system up…”.
That wasn’t just about there being clones of Slim Shady everywhere.
It’s deeper than that.
You want proof?
A twisted up version of lines from “The Real Slim Shady,” “My Name Is,” and “Without Me” are included in a song on Relapse; and these lines are incredibly significant as they also contain a hidden message, if you can figure it out.
4. Pay special attention to the petname, “Darling,” any distorted voices, or whenever his voice is layered onto itself in part of the song.
They happen rarely but are key details as to who is speaking.
- Take note any time an alarm clock rings.
(When you’re done listening to Relapse, go back and listen for alarm clocks ringing in TDOSS, especially in “Antichrist.” You’re welcome.)
6. There is a hidden message in “My Darling” which can be found by turning a part of the song into a series of simple math problems.
When you find it, restart the section and note the time stamp.
Yeah.
It blew my mind too.
(He’s fucking brilliant.)
Also pay attention to the foundational beat sound and the musical composition, especially in the final chorus round, of “My Darling.”
Oh.
By the way, Eminem produced “My Darling” himself.
That’s not a Dre beat.
That’s a fucking Eminem beat.
A Note on the Serial Killer/Horror Themes:
The serial killer/horror themes serve to draw a comparison between a serial killer’s urge to kill and Marshall’s urges to use drugs/relapse. It additionally sets up the storyline of Slim Shady pursuing Marshall after his escape from “the asylum” (a.k.a: rehab). The “black out” periods described by Slim Shady while killing people is the equivalent of Marshall using and sleeping for long stretches or time or being so high that he can’t remember what happened blocks of time, so he has no idea what he could have possibly been doing while blacked out.
Slim Shady is increasingly preoccupied with making a skin suit, essentially taking over a person’s body. He has many victims, but only one will truly satisfy him: He wants to possess Marshall.
Not only do the ideas of skinning and/or possessing people reflect the horror core theming/sub-genre, these ideas also relate back to crimes committed by several infamous serial killers and to a pathological and psychological motivation often present in the profile of a serial killer.
Slim Shady also represents drug addiction personified. Like other people, many celebrities fall prey to drug addiction. There’s a reason Shady’s two famous victims in “Same Song and Dance” were two well-known, young, promising celebrities who very publicly struggled with drug addiction.
A Note on “We Made You”:
“We Made You” further explores fame and the complex relationship between artists and their fan bases. Celebrities trying to be who their fans want them to be in order to stay relevant because you can’t be a celebrity if you don’t have any fans.
The pressures and unhealthy lengths that celebrities are willing to go in order to build, appease, and/or maintain their fanbase, even if it ends up destroying their life in the process.
How their failures are publicly broadcasted adding to the difficulty and pressure to maintain your fans.
If shamed in the public eye, the increased pressure usually results in doing whatever you can to keep your fanbase, which can lead to crashing out again and again and again.
The paradox is that:
If you don’t maintain your fans, you die. Your celebrity status dies.
Going to unhealthy extremes to keep your fans and celebrity status is likely to destroy your life, if not outright kill you.
Should you fail publicly, you lose fans and are more likely to do whatever it takes to get back to where you were, typically resulting in to crashing out again. Rinse-and-repeat until you die.
Your fans make you, but they also break you.
So that begs the question: what happens if what your fans want you to be is something that may ultimately end up killing you?
Or the bigger question: does it even matter since every option ultimately results in the death of the celebrity anyway?
A Note About “3am” and “Stay Wide Awake”:
“3am” is best experienced in the explicit music video version. This allows the listener to see Shady’s escape from the “asylum.”
“Stay Wide Awake” is best experienced using a video version that includes the lyrics and highlights the rhyme scheme.
Note:
This allows the person to see the technicalities of the song and can help ground the listener from getting lost in the fucked up details of Slim Shady’s killing spree.
A Note About “3am” and “Framed”:
Many people, including the director of both music videos, consider the song, “Framed,” from the Revival album to be the sequel to “3am.”
I personally think it makes more sense to consider “Framed” a prequel to “3am,” with “Framed” being the events before “3am,” and the Relapse album being the events after “3am.”
The timeline is rough and I feel an argument could be made for either perspective, especially with how the music video ends.
It would make sense that the audience and Marshall are experiencing time displacement due to Marshall’s drug use. Whenever Marshall blacks out while using drugs, Shady takes over and kills people. Hence, Marshall being “Framed.” Upon realizing it was actually Shady killing people (in the form of drug addiction), Shady is taken to the asylum (rehab). Shortly after arriving and being tranquilized, Shady escapes.
Because think about it, if Marshall can’t sleep… neither can Shady, so the tranquilizer would do little to sedate someone with such a high drug tolerance AND sleeping difficulties.
The asylum workers made the mistake of believing Shady was sedated, and that what helps him escape to hunt down Marshall in Relapse.
This would also align with Marshall’s first rehab experience in 2005 that he didn’t take seriously; he relapsed shortly after leaving rehab the first time and didn’t believe he had a drug problem since he was taking prescription drugs instead of street drugs like heroin or crack.
In 2006, DeShaun/Proof, Marshall’s best friend since high school, was killed and Marshall’s drug use ramped afterward as he struggled to cope with the loss of someone who meant so much to him.
He has mentioned that there were a couple attempts to get clean only to relapse prior to his overdose in 2007.
So I think it’s possible to see “Framed” as a sequel or prequel, but that it makes more sense as a prequel.
Just my thoughts.
Feel free to agree or disagree.
That’s the beautiful think about art.
“Framed” is best experienced in music video format.
A Contextual Note:
Marshall’s primary addition was to sleeping medication, which eventually culminated into him taking whatever pills he could find.
This is what resulted in him overdosing on methadone; he had hit the point of addiction where he was taking whatever he could and unknowingly took methadone.
Consider what effects detoxing from sleep medication will have on that person’s ability to sleep.
Think about what effects not sleeping might have on someone. How might this impact their memory and perception of time?
This is why several of the track titles relate to time or could be associated with having sleeping difficulties. (Being wide awake at 3am; doing the same thing repeatedly (Deja Vu, Same Song and Dance, Old Time’s Sake, etc.)).
See what other connections you can make.
Note On “Drop The Bomb On ‘Em”:
It’s not a coincidence that “Drop The Bomb On ‘Em” reads like “drop the bomb on EM.”
Em… “like Eminem? The rapper? With the chainsaws? Eminem.”
And who’s ordering the bomb drop?
Shady.
“Shady, please, please don’t drop the bomb in me.”
(Also note that me is Em backwards.
Another coincidence? Not a chance. )
Imo, this is the best way to listen to Relapse and see the bigger picture and multiple storylines that are happening simultaneously in this work of art.
AND AS A BONUS IF YOU READ THIS FAR:
If you want to go even further down the rabbit hole.
Listen to the Intro of The Slim Shady EP.
Not LP.
The Slim Shady EP.
Just the intro is fine.
Then, take a second to be awestruck when you realize/remember that the Slim Shady EP came out in 1997; that’s when the Slim Shady alter was “fully” fleshed out.
THEN, listen to Relapse using my techniques above.
Enjoy the show.
Seriously, Eminem is a genius and an artist to the nth degree.
Hopefully this information helps someone to better and more fully experience this masterpiece.
It is honestly worth the attention and effort.
