Review of The Song "Mockingbird" by Eminem

Marshall Mathers, better known by his stage name, Eminem, is one of the best artists and lyricists in the history of rap music. “Mockingbird is the best and most meaningful song that Eminem has recorded. Even though, I was a young child when I first heard this song, I did not understand the true meaning behind this famous song I understood that there actually was a meaning behind his song. It is known by many that Eminem had a troubling and tough childhood. He never knew his father, Marshall Mathers Jr., who abandoned Eminem and his family when he was a young child and denied Eminem every time he tried to contact him. Unfortunately, this continued on to his own family as well. Kim Mathers, Eminem’s wife at the time, was very distant from him and their two daughters that they had together. These two daughters names are The song talks how Eminem is trying hard to comfort his daughters and be a good dad, by being there for them more than their mother is, since she just “disappeared”.

“Mockingbird” is a well thought out apology to his two daughters for the way that things in their lives have gone and how their life has turned out for them thus far. Eminem states, that no matter how rough the situation, as well as other events in their lives, looks or gets, he will always love them no matter what. He would also give up everything that he has and does for them, without hesitating even the slightest bit.

Although lowbrow texts are seen as unmeaningful and shallow, Eminem's Mockingbird is a text which transcends its categorisation as a lowbrow text by exploring the difficult upbringing of Marshal Mather's (Eminem) daughters Hailee and Alaina whilst being a major emotional apology to both of them for not being with them as needed. Mockingbird transcends it categorisation as a lowbrow text through its significant message to modern audiences through ideas of love, coming of age and power bringing corruption. The deeper meaning behind the song’s lyrics provide with greater value and emotional connection that can only be found through deeper research or understanding of the contextual history.

Throughout the song, Eminem reverts back to a time where his daughters were just two little girls and they were just way too young to understand the seriousness of what was going on with their parents. Throughout the song, Eminem tries to figure out what he is going to do with the serious issues that are taking place around him. The serious issues are that his wife left him and the family and now he is trying to figure out how give his daughters the best life that he can possibly still give them.

Eminem refers to his two daughters as “little soldiers” because of the fact that they are constantly battling against the adversity that they have to deal with, with the situation that they were put in by their mother. Eminem tells his two daughters to “stiffen that lip”, which is him telling them to try not to cry because he is there for them and he will do what he needs to do to fix the situations that they are in. The first part of the first verse of the song, from Eminem, is as follows;

Eminem and his wife, Kim Mathers, have always struggled throughout the time that they have been married. It is not publicly known what the reason is that made their marriage fall apart, but then come back together, multiple times. It was definitely a very rough time in Hailie and Alaina’s lives, as they were then left alone with their father. Eminem does not consider himself not at fault for what has happened with his marriage. He has admitted that he is always out of the house, on tour, because he was too involved in trying to get a record label to put his name on a CD that they would produce. Because of this, he says, he was away from the family way more than he would have liked to be and this was a large part of why they had a troubled marriage.

Eminem continues on to say that all he wants to do is give his daughters as nice of a life that he can give them, and definitely a better life that what he had. During this time, though, Eminem and his wife, Kim, could have destroyed what they intended to achieve for their daughters. This is an example of the irony of life. This also most likely the most significant reason to why Eminem, Kim and their daughters are not together on this current day. The song then c

Eminem and Kim have always had a rough marriage. They were constantly going back and forth with being divorced and then getting remarried again and again. It was not all wonderful and perfect for the two of them. Eminem says he that does not believe that they will be a family ever again. Eminem and his wife are separated still this day, and we are not sure if they will ever be married again. It seemed as though they would be a happy couple for forever, but that was never the case and their love may never be back to the way that it was in the beginning. The song the continues on through the rest of the first verse and then makes its way to the hook, which is as follows;

In this hook, Eminem is trying to comfort his two daughters and to help them go to sleep and sleep through another night without worrying about what is going on. Even though their mom is not always there with them, Eminem promises he will be right there with them no matter what the circumstances and the situation is.

Kim Mathers was an alcoholic, and a drug addict. She was always getting in trouble with the law and running doing anything she can think with anyone she can do it with. The two girls are always worried about where their mom is and when she will be returning, but Eminem reassures them that their mom is okay and she will be right back. After the hook, Eminem jumps right into verse two where the first part is,

This song takes a look back to a time where he had no money and was not succeeding at all in the rap game. Because he had no money, when Kim would buy the Christmas presents for the girl and to cover up the fact that their father was broke, she told the girls that some of them were from their father. It broke Eminem down and made him feel like a horrible father and a husband who was a disappointment because of the fact that he could not provide for his family. The next part of the second verse is,

In this part of the verse, Eminem says that his job was music and the spontaneous rap battles that occured on the streets. He then says that his real job was what he failed at, being the father that can care and provide for his family. It made him feel horrible inside and almost as though he was worthless. This had to have been in a year before 1997, since in that year he signed with Aftermath Records. The Mathers family lived in Detroit which at this time, was just packed full with crime. Eminem goes on to say that their house was repeatedly robbed by gangs and even caught in the line of fire in multiple gang fights, which was absolutely nothing but negativity for their economic situation. The second verse continues on until it gets to the last part of the verse, which is as follows;

This last piece at the end of the second verse of the song is just a sincere and thoughtful apology to both of his daughters, Hailie and Alaina. Eminem states in the verse that he is sorry for what they saw and that that was not an intention of his because they were sauch young little girls. The two girls grew up watching a family that once loved each other, fall apart and turn into a family that is broken and lost.

In 2004, when the song was released, Eminem was alone. He was separated from both his wife and his mother. He also was not allowed to see his daughters, for reasons that I do not know. If given the opportunity, it is very obvious to everyone that Eminem would have done things differently, early on in the relationship, in order to keep the family strong and close-knit. After the second verse ends, the song continues on to the outro. The outro is,

In the outro, Eminem claims that he would do anything to put a smile on his daughters’ faces and to keep them happy at all times. This includes the possibility that there is of him killing the mockingbird he bought for them. Eminem makes it clear that he would, without hesitation, do that and anything necessary for his daughters. He plays on words with karat measurement and carrots and cusses in the last line of the song in order to bring emphasis of his passion to the front and center, to make sure that his audience does not miss it. You can see how much emotion Eminem has put into this very famous rap song as he has been seen crying after performing this song many time.

Through the ideas of love, Eminem provides deeper meaning to the song Mockingbird and transcends its categorisation as a lowbrow text. ‘Straighten up, little soldier; Stiffen up that upper lip; What you cryin’ about? You got me,’ In Mockingbird, Eminem reminds when his two daughters were too young to understand what was happening at home. In this time period Eminem and his on and off wife Kim were going through a difficult period where many arguments or ‘wars’ which Hailee and Alaina had experienced firsthand in their environment. Eminem calls the two children ‘little soldiers’ as they have already endured through a metaphorical war at home. The quote has deeper meaning as it provides support to the two children and a sense of security in which Eminem devotes his love to his daughters by saying that they have him. Eminem then leads on to saying, ‘But I’m tryin’ to give you the life that I never had,’ this shows how Eminem is trying to provide his daughters with the love and affection which he did not receive through his troubled childhood. Although his attempts to do so, Eminem did not succeed as his troubled relationship with Kim and his dedication to making music lead to both of them not available as parents for the two children. This connects to today’s society where many families are broken because of unstable relationships. Like Eminem’s daughters, many children are misplaced and unloved because of struggles between parents. The song does not only provide security to Hailee and Alaina but is a mean of support to any other person in the same situation. Eminem evidently uses the hidden idea of love to transcend its categorisation as a lowbrow text.

“Mockingbird” is the most influential and meaningful song that Eminem has ever written. This is also one of the greatest songs, all around, that he has recorded. It shows the emotional rollercoaster that Eminem takes as he goes through his life of parenting his daughters, Hallie and Alaina. It is nothing but constant reassurance to his daughters, as well as him trying to figure out how he was actually going to handle the situation he was dealing with. All he wants to do is be the best dad that he can possibly be for his girls. Eminem may not be seen as a great father because of the situations that he was in, but because of the effort and dedication that he put in for his daughters, he is a great father.