Brain Damage (The Slim Shady LP)

Hands down one of Eminem's most well-written songs about being bullied in school. This will be a monster of a post since it's such a dense song.

Let's get some of the powerful messages of this song out of the way.

Eminem uses a personal story from his childhood about being bullied and generalizes his message to pin the blame subtly on the parents and the teachers, rather than the bully (D'Angelo Bailey) himself:


Eminem: But don't you wanna give me after-school detention?
Teacher: Nah, that bully wants to beat your ass and I'ma let him


Here, Eminem knocks the teachers in American schools for not doing anything about bullying in the yard.


The principal walked in and started helping him stomp me.


This is of course NOT true...but the message is clear: the staff have just as much to do with it as the kids themselves.

Then, the parental blame...Eminem's mother apparently doesn't care that he is hemorrhaging from the brain after being beaten senseless by D'Angelo, caring more about her rug:


Mother: What are you, on drugs? Look at you...you're getting blood all over my rug.


And some more parental blame:


This kid D'Angelo Bailey...an eighth grader who acted obnoxious because his father boxes so every day he'd shove me in the lockers.


Now, enough with the messages in the song. Let's get to the story itself.

Is the story real? Yes, for the most part. Eminem really was beaten up in the urinal by D'Angelo Bailey...he really did go home later that day and try and fail to read comics because he bled from his ear (a brain hemorrhage). In fact, he received about 10% brain damage from this and the snowball incident. He's had a twitch in his eye ever since.

What ISN'T real? Some parts are exaggerated for comic/dramatic effect...some parts are fictional for the sake of showing his Slim Shady side (the guy that lashes out at the world).

The principal part is of course, not true.

The part where Eminem runs to the janitor's storage booth and beats D'Angelo over the head with a broomstick is not true. This is basically just his "Slim Shady" character taking over...getting his revenge on those who have wronged him.

The part where his mother hits him over the head and his brain falls out is obviously not real and just a bit of cartoonish violence to make light of a very serious incident.

Now, turning our attention to the lyrics/storytelling Eminem does in this song. I've always said that if you sat down at a bar and told this story, it would sound perfectly realistic and smooth, and only after a few seconds would the people in the bar realize you're rhyming as well (in a complex manner). Just imagine this being an anecdote in a bar:

My first day in junior high...this kid said, "It's you and I. Three o'clock sharp this afternoon ya die."

I looked at my watch...it was one twenty. "I already gave you my lunch money, what more do you want from me?"

He said, "Don't try to run from me, you'll just make it worse." My palms were sweaty and I started to shake at first.

It's mind-boggling how effortlessly detailed he makes the story. Here are some of the brilliant examples of linking in this song. The way his mind made connections between various elements of this story/concept and rhyming words is genius:


This kid said, "It's you and I...three o'clock sharp, this afternoon ya die"/"I looked at my watch, it was one twenty"/"I already gave you my lunch money"/"What more do you want from me?" (1:20 is during lunch time in most junior high schools)

"Something told me 'Try fake a stomach ache, it works!'"/"I screamed 'Ow! My appendix feel like they could burst!"/"Teacher, teacher, quick, I need a naked nurse"/"'What's the matter?' 'I dunno, my leg it hurts!'"...Your leg? I thought you said it was your tummy!"/"Oh I mean it is...but I also got a bum knee"

And then, Eminem, trying to get out of getting beat up at 3 o'clock (reminds me of 3 O'Clock High, LOL), asks for detention: "Don't you wanna give me after school detention?" Then the teacher says "Nah, that bully [the bully who threatened to beat him up at 3, mentioned earlier] wants to beat your ass and I'ma let him."

Now for the second verse:

"One day he came in the bathroom when I was pissin"/"Banged my head against the urinal 'til he broke my nose"

"Grabbed me and choked my throat"/"He kept choking me and I couldn't breathe"/"Holding my breath for like 5 minutes before they finally left"

"Then I got up and ran to the janitor's storage booth"/"Kicked the door hinge loose and ripped out the four-inch screws"/"Grabbed some sharp objects, brooms and foreign tools"/"...Cocked the broomstick back and swung hard as I could"/"Beat him over the head with it until I broke the wood"

"This is for every time you took my orange juice"/"Or stole my seat in the lunch room or drank my chocolate milk"/"Every time you tipped my tray and it dropped and spilt"