Stay Wide Awake

[Satan]

I could never understand why people considered this song the best out of the Relapse era. I'll be honest, I'm not a hater of Relapse, I think it's decent, not bad, not great. The problem I have with this song is the same as the problem I have with Bagpipes. Now, technically, it's amazing, the beat is fantastic, flow is top-notch, etc.

The problems, besides the accent (which I've grown accustomed to, so it's not really a problem anymore), are all in the lyrics. I'll elaborate later.

[Raul]

I could never understand why people considered this song the best out of the Relapse era. I'll be honest, I'm not a hater of Relapse, I think it's decent, not bad, not great. The problem I have with this song is the same as the problem I have with Bagpipes. Now, technically, it's amazing, the beat is fantastic, flow is top-notch, etc.

The problems, besides the accent (which I've grown accustomed to, so it's not really a problem anymore), are all in the lyrics. I'll elaborate later.

You still didn't release that Relapse/Recovery t.b.t. review

[Kill You]

It's a storytelling song...Bagpipes is awesome as well, a top 5 from Relapse.

[RSoares]

Stay Wide Awake is genius!

The hook is one of Em's best.

[infinite2hts]

Stay Wide Awake is One Of The Greatest Eminem Songs Of All Time.
Easily stands up to and rivals his best work. (1999-02).

This is not my opinion, just a Fact.

[bingo bongo]

Fuck you with an umbrella and open it up while the shits inside ya

[Satan]

Stay Wide Awake is One Of The Greatest Eminem Songs Of All Time.
Easily stands up to and rivals his best work. (1999-02).

This is not my opinion, just a Fact.

So "Jabba the Hutt beddy bye bye beddy bye bye it's time to die die" and "I'm dancing in my red panties", juxtaposed with the many times Eminem removes words just to keep his rhyme scheme ("ACTING LIKE (A) LUMBERJACK" "Here I come with (an) axe"), and the shitty adjectives he uses just because of the rhyme scheme, rivals with songs like Criminal.

It's enjoyable, but goddammit, it rivals with nothing prior to 2002.

[UofLCard]

It's the best (darker) song off of Relapse.

[Emadyville]

the only thing that really gets me about this song is the fact that the hook is so good and for the rest of the song he uses the accent. other than that its def one of the highlights of relapse

[Kill You]

Why do people take like 2 lines from a song, and call the whole song bad based off of two lines? God, if I did that I would never fucking enjoy music ever again.

[infinite2hts]

Why do people take like 2 lines from a song, and call the whole song bad based off of two lines? God, if I did that I would never fucking enjoy music ever again.

This.
thats why i didnt feel like replying to goberzerks wrist slitting response.
That part flows so perfectly. the delivery is godly. do people really let a line ruin it for them. if so, i feel bad for them tbh.
personally i dont think that line is bad in any way.
when Em says "its time to die die" with dat delivery, it sounds like a perverted psycho murderer saying that to his victim just before committing the act.

[infinite2hts]

Everything is in tune with the serial killer theme. Stay Wide Awake is a documentation of a murderer's psychology. people dont understand it.
and whats so wrong with "dancing in my red panties". i bet if this was said by old eminem, no one would pick it out. but no, since this is by new eminem lets rip apart a song, nit pick single lines and cry about it because it is from comeback eminem and he sucks so somuch. every line by old eminem was perfect and untouchable, because he was in prime yo.

[Satan]

Thought this was pretty great when the album first came out. I still like a few parts of it, but it's gone down a lot in my estimation. Beat is, once again, pretty fantastic...I love stuff like the guitar during Em's "Soon as my flow starts", and it's got a darkness to it that I really like. Also I thoroughly enjoy the chorus, probably one of the better ones on the album. However, this is the perfect example of Em putting rhyme schemes before actual lyrics and falling flat on his face and dying like a bee without a stinger as a result. The second verse is utterly astounding if you're just looking to see how many syllables can rhyme...however, as I said earlier, who really uses that as enough for a song's success? If the lyrics suck I couldn't care less how well it rhymes. As impressive as the rhyming is, is anyone really COMPELLED or even interested to hear Eminem talking about fucking someone with an umbrella, or someone "scratching like some dumb freak", or him playing hide-and-seek because of a "vacancy in [his] tummy" (why would he be playing hide-and-seek because of that?), or Jabba the Hut, or dancing in red pawn-ties? He's barely fleshed this character past 3 a.m, because all we know after that is that he's a huge celebrity basher (specifically irrelevant ones). Perhaps if he would've fleshed out this...Arabian serial killer...more, it would be more compelling for more than one song strictly about him to be listened to for more reasons than the rhyming. But even if that situation did occur, the lyrics are still a strict problem.

The lyrics are almost entirely shit, which really undermines any of the skill he exhibited in constructing complex multis. I'd much, MUCH rather hear a moderate amount of multis with great lyrics than an insane amount of multis with shit lyrics ("Here I come with ax"?). The accent is painful in this one too ("It don't even maw-tawugh"), though I've adjusted to it more four years later. So what we have, much like the rest of Relapse, is a song with a lot of potential, but ruined by Eminem stubbornly sticking to a theme he couldn't effectively pull off just months after becoming sober. Despite some solid elements here, I'd have to say that this is pretty easily one of Eminem's most overrated tracks.

[infinite2hts]

As impressive as the rhyming is, is anyone really COMPELLED or even interested to hear Eminem talking about fucking someone with an umbrella

I dont understand the point u r trying to make here. Em is playing a character in this song. Its a story telling song with fucked up content. No one is COMPELLING you to like the music. you can either appreciate/like the art or dislike/hate it.

or someone "scratching like some dumb freak", or him playing hide-and-seek because of a "vacancy in [his] tummy" (why would he be playing hide-and-seek because of that?)

What is so confusing in this?
" There's a monster inside of me, it's quite ugly and it frightens me
But they can't see what I can see, there's a vacancy in my tummy
It's making me play hide-and-seek, like Jason I'm so hungry"

Hide and Seek as in hunt and chase of his victims. Since the monster inside of him is hungry for blood and flesh, he wants to play hide and seek with his victims. Therefore Em is indicating the cannibalistic tendencies of the Serial Killer he is trying to portray in this song.

[b]The lyrics are almost entirely shit, [/b]which really undermines any of the skill he exhibited in constructing complex multis. I'd much, MUCH rather hear a moderate amount of multis with great lyrics than an insane amount of multis with shit lyrics ("Here I come with ax"?). The accent is painful in this one too ("It don't even maw-tawugh"), though I've adjusted to it more four years later. So what we have, much like the rest of Relapse, is a song with a lot of potential, but ruined by Eminem stubbornly sticking to a theme he couldn't effectively pull off just months after becoming sober. Despite some solid elements here, I'd have to say that this is pretty easily one of Eminem's most overrated tracks.

no point of discussion here if you think The lyrics are shit.
Clearly you dont understand the song and the meaning behind those lines or dont appreciate the characterization in it.
There is much more to this song than that beat, flow and multies.