I think this song works on two different levels and perspectives.
One one hand, the song reads like a realtime story. It is unfolding with every verse Eminem sings. His lines are describing what's happening right now, and Rihanna recaps the theme of the song with her chorus. It's an abusive relationship that she is unable/unwilling to get out of. Their relationship is spiralling downwards, and at the end he makes a threat of what will happen if she leaves again.
And we're left to wonder what DOES happen.
But if you look at it another way, we find out what happens. All of Eminem's verses are a flashback of the events leading up to that threat, which is the last thing that happens before the song starts. This is what's happening right now:
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie"
He is literally standing there, watching her burn and hearing her cry, and thinking about everything that happened leading up to this. Rihanna's lines become the present.
Listen to the song back to back. The first time picture Eminem's verses as the present. The second time, picture his verses as the past. And in between imagine that she tried to leave again and he acted out his threat. This perspective certainly makes the song a lot darker.
Not sure if that makes sense to anyone, it looks a little confusing when I put it in writing...
I completely understand what you mean, don't worry! hihi And i have to say i never thought about it like that but now that i read your comment i cant help thinking about this darker version of it nad getting chills down my spine! :)
I completely understand what you mean, don't worry! hihi And i have to say i never thought about it like that but now that i read your comment i cant help thinking about this darker version of it nad getting chills down my spine! :)
I think this song works on two different levels and perspectives.
One one hand, the song reads like a realtime story. It is unfolding with every verse Eminem sings. His lines are describing what's happening right now, and Rihanna recaps the theme of the song with her chorus. It's an abusive relationship that she is unable/unwilling to get out of. Their relationship is spiralling downwards, and at the end he makes a threat of what will happen if she leaves again. And we're left to wonder what DOES happen.
But if you look at it another way, we find out what happens. All of Eminem's verses are a flashback of the events leading up to that threat, which is the last thing that happens before the song starts. This is what's happening right now:
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn But that's alright because I like the way it hurts Just gonna stand there and hear me cry But that's alright because I love the way you lie"
He is literally standing there, watching her burn and hearing her cry, and thinking about everything that happened leading up to this. Rihanna's lines become the present.
Listen to the song back to back. The first time picture Eminem's verses as the present. The second time, picture his verses as the past. And in between imagine that she tried to leave again and he acted out his threat. This perspective certainly makes the song a lot darker.
Not sure if that makes sense to anyone, it looks a little confusing when I put it in writing...
I completely understand what you mean, don't worry! hihi And i have to say i never thought about it like that but now that i read your comment i cant help thinking about this darker version of it nad getting chills down my spine! :)
I completely understand what you mean, don't worry! hihi And i have to say i never thought about it like that but now that i read your comment i cant help thinking about this darker version of it nad getting chills down my spine! :)