My Fault (The Slim Shady LP)

This song is absolutely brilliant. It does have one glaring flaw, though: the girl in this story Susan overdoses on shrooms, which I believe is impossible. Eminem wrote this song in 1997 back when he hadn't used mushrooms yet...so he didn't have much experience.

This story is a perfect example of Eminem's ability to write a consistent and highly detailed story, making it sound so effortless, all the while rhyming his ass off. It's also an example of Eminem's dark sense of humor (a staple of SSLP).

It's the story of a 26-year-old "ex-heroin addict" Susan. Eminem gives her a magic mushroom but she eats the whole bag and overdoses and it's Eminem's "Fault."

First off, the rhyming on this (for a STORY song) is incredible. Stan didn't have rhyming nearly half as good as this song. A few examples:

Usin' again/hallucinogen/booze & the gin/who's in the den?
Better be careful/Gettin' my hair pulled
Havin' a seizure/Grabbin' my tee-shirt
Many you had/twenty two caps

But the most impressive thing about this song is the way elements in the story are linked. Everything makes sense, and not a single line is wasted. One line either links with another, or moves the story along:

"Susan, an ex-heroin addict who just stopped usin'...", "Told me she was goin' back to usin' again...", "It's better than heroin, Henn, the booze and the gin..."

"First try this hallucinogen...", "shut up slut, chew up this mushroom"

"Half of her head shaved", "Put down the scissors before you do something dumb", "Choppin' her hair off..."

"I went to John's rave with Ron and Dave..." "I need to go find Dave, he's the one who gave me these", "John, where's Dave at before I bash you?"

"He's in the bathroom, I think he's taking a crap, dude", "Dave, pull up your pants..."

"Oh shoot! She's trippin'!", "You're talking to the plant, look...", "There's a girl upstairs talking to plants"

"Susan, stop crying, I don't hate ya", "Now she's upstairs crying out her eyeballs"

Or the reference to her father raping her and the later reference to him physically abusing her:

"I'm sorry your father raped ya...", "Leave me alone, dad, I'm sick of getting my hair pulled..."

The ONLY line in this whole song which seems random is: "A nurse aid who came to get laid..." The fact that she's a nurse isn't referenced later and seems like nonsequitur. That's the only knock on the song lyrically, IMO.

How the hell does he tell a story this detailed while rhyming/flowing that well?