Rock Bottom (The Slim Shady LP)

One of the most well-written songs ever, period. It should be noted that Eminem wrote this song in 1997 when he was literally at rock bottom: fired from his job as a cook, and unable to support his 1-year-old daughter. He tried to kill himself by swallowing a bottle of pills but it didn't work. From one of the lowest points of his life comes one of the highest points of his career: Rock Bottom.

We'll start where the song does: with the introduction. This is Eminem at his most fed up ("had it up to here"). You can hear the bitterness in his voice that you also hear in "If I Had:" This song is dedicated to all the happy people...all the happy people who have real nice lives...and have no idea what it's like to be broke as fuck. So I guess the song is dedicated to me. I can't relate to this shit...but I can still see, from a technical standpoint, that this is one of the best things Eminem has ever done.

Rock Bottom is probably my favorite chorus of his, ever:

That's rock bottom.
When this life makes you mad enough to kill
When you want something bad enough to steal
When you feel like you've had it up to here
'Cause you're mad enough to scream but you're sad enough to tear
That's rock bottom

All throughout the song, he discusses being "mad enough to kill:" I'm running up on someone's lawn with guns drawn, wanting something "bad enough to steal:" them rings you're wearing look like they got a few rocks on 'em...I could be taking them to shops to pawn 'em..

Then there's the beat. A hauntingly dark F.B.T./Eminem production. Whenever I hear that beat, I think "depression."

I feel like I'm walking a tightrope without a circus net
Poppin' percoset, I'm a nervous wreck
I deserve respect but I work a sweat for this worthless cheque
'Bout to burst this tech at somebody to reverse this debt

The first line is such a great simile, with vivid imagery. You immediately know how "nervous"/anxious he feels.

The rhyming: circus net/percoset/nervous wreck/deserve respect/work a sweat is incredible. How can a guy be rhyming this well while saying something that is crystal-clear to the listener? Another great example of Eminem's ear for English, with some more brilliant rhyme schemes:

I want the money, the women, the fortune and fame
That means I'll end up burnin' in hell, scorchin' in flames
That means I'm stealing your checkbook and forgin' your name
Lifetime bliss for eternal torture and pain

The way he delivers the lyrics, which are so heartfelt, moving and honest, is in such a shockingly controlled fashion. He only starts to sound emotional in the third verse: "my daughter's FEET ain't got no shoes or socks on 'em!" I feel like this is when he was a lot more subtle with his emotion, with his "angry voice" being used sparingly (only in third verse). In later albums, the emotion bordered on excessive and was a lot less subtle.

Only one person on the planet could have written a song as good as this.