EMINEM

1. Read the information about Eminem and answer the questions.
a. What is Eminem’s middle name?
b. What are his aliases?
c. When was he born?
d. Where does he come from?
e. When did he begin his career as a singer?


Life and releases
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. Shortly after his birth, his father abandoned his family. Until he was twelve, Marshall Mathers and his mother often moved between St. Joseph and Warren, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. As a teenager, Mathers became interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age fourteen under the pseudonym "M&M" and joining the group Soul Intent around 1995, when his first single was released.
Kimberley Anne Scott is the doubly divorced ex-wife of Mathers. The couple met in high school, beginning their relationship in 1989 and getting married by 1999; however they then divorced in 2001. In 2000, Scott attempted suicide. They remarried in 2006 but divorced again less than three months later, agreeing to share custody of their daughter, Hailie Jade Scott. Hailie Scott has often been mentioned in various songs of Eminem, such as "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", "Hailie's Song", "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Mockingbird", "Cleaning Out My Closet" and "When I'm Gone". She was born on December 25, 1995.


3. Read the extra information about Eminem and say if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones.
a. Eminem lived in Missouri until he was twelve.
b. His father abandoned him on his birthday.
c. He began rapping around 1995.
d. Marshall and his wife have married and divorced twice.
e. After divorcing for the first time, Eminem’s wife committed suicide.
f. Kimberley was Eminem’s wife, and Anne is his daughter.


4. Read the song and choose the correct words (pay attention to meaning and rhyme). Then listen and check.


"When I'm Gone"

[Introduction]
- I remember the first time I came here. It’s been a rough six years and I’m just sad /happy to not be that person anymore and so is my wife. Thank you for letting me do this. That’s all I have to say right now. (claps)
- Is there, err…, anyone else who’d like to share with us tonight?
- Err…, yeah. My name is Marshall.
- Hello Marshall
- Yeah...
It's my life...
My own words I guess...

[Verse 1]
1 Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
When they know they're your heart / life
And you know you were their armour
5 And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her / them
But what happens when karma, turns right around and bites you?
And everything you stand for turns on you, despite you?
What happens when you become the main source of her pain?
"Daddy look what I made", Dad's gotta go catch a plane / bus
10 "Daddy where's Mommy? I can't find Mommy where is she?"
I don't know go play Hailie, baby, your Daddy's busy / occupied
Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gonna write itself
I'll give you one underdog then you gotta swing by yourself
Then turn right around in that song and tell her you love her
15 And put hands on her mother, who's a spitting image of her
That's Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady's mad / crazy
Shady made me, but tonight Shady's rocka-by-baby...

[Chorus]
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
20 Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling / laughing
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
25 Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling /laughing
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back...

[Verse 2]
I keep having this dream, I'm pushin' Hailie on the swing
She keeps screaming, she don't want me to sing / speak
30 "You're making Mommy cry, why? Why is Mommy crying?"
Baby, Daddy ain't leaving no more, "Daddy you're lying
"You always say that, you always say this is the last time
"But you ain't leaving no more, Daddy you're mine / here"
She's piling boxes in front of the door trying to block it
35 "Daddy please, Daddy don't leave, Daddy - no stop it!"
Goes in her pocket, pulls out a tiny necklace locket / bracelet
It's got a picture, "this'll keep you safe Daddy, take it withcha'"
I look up, it's just me standing in the mirror
These f***** walls must be talking, cuz man I can hear 'em
40 They're saying "You've got one more chance to do right" - and it's yesterday / tonight
Now go out there and show that you love 'em before it's too late
And just as I go to walk out of my bedroom door
It turns to a stage, they're gone, and this spotlight is on
And I'm singing...

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
45 Sixty thousand people, all jumping out their seat
The curtain closes, they're throwing roses at my feet / hands
I take a bow and thank you all for coming out
They're screaming so loud, I take one last look at the crowd
I glance down, I don't believe what I'm seeing
50 "Daddy it's me, help Mommy, her wrists are bleeding,"
But baby we're in Sweden, how did you get to Sweden?
"I followed you Daddy, you told me that you weren't leavin'
"You lied to me Dad, and now you make Mommy happy / sad
"And I bought you this coin, it says 'Number One Dad'
55 "That's all I wanted, I just want to give you this coin
"I get the point - fine, me and Mommy are going"
But baby wait, "it's too late Dad, you made the choice
"Now go out there and show 'em that you love 'em more than we / us"
That's what they want, they want you Marshall, they keep screamin' your name
60 It's no wonder you can't go to sleep, just take another pill
Yeah, I bet you you will. You rap about it, yeah, word, k-keep it real
I hear applause, all this time I couldn't see
How could it be, that the curtain is closing on me
I turn around, find a gun on the ground, cock it
65 Put it to my brain and scream "die Shady" and pop it
The sky darkens, my life flashes, the plane that I was supposed to be on crashes and burns to ashes
That's when I wake up, alarm clock's ringin', there's birds singin'
It's Spring and Hailie's outside swinging, I walk right up to Kim and kiss her
70 Tell her I miss her, Hailie just smiles and winks at her little sister
Almost as if to say…

[Chorus]

[Curtains closing and sounds of clapping]


Vocabulary
5. Try to guess the correct, standard English words equivalent to those underlined in the song.
a. Gotta (lines 9, 13
b. Ain’t gonna (line 12)
c. Pushin’, leavin’, screamin’ ringin’, singin’…
d. Don’t (line 29)
e. Ain’t (line 31)
f. Ain’t (line 33)
g. Witcha (line 37)
h. ‘Cuz (‘cos, ‘cause) (line 39)
i. ‘em (lines 39, 41, 58)
j. Yeah (line 61)


Comprehension:
6. Circle the correct answer:
At the end of the song…The singer commits suicide / He tells the audience that everything was a nightmare.