Deeper meaning behind Music Box?

[EminemInsider]

The more I analyze the lyrics of this song, the more I think this song may be about more than what meets the eye. As I see it, this song is metaphorical in nature; Eminem explaining how all the "serial killing/horrorcore" rap came about for him.

It's possible I'm just inventing stuff that isn't there, but hey...if Canibus dickriders can invent meanings for their random psychobabble spewer, surely I can come up with an alternate interpretation of an Eminem song. And I'm pretty sure at least SOME of this is actually what he was going for, even if there's no broader message involved.

So here we go:

"You hear the beat as it makes ya not wanna go to sleep"

-Right off the bat, Eminem is telling you that rap is his "anti-drug." As long as he is busy with rap music, he doesn't have the urge to use substances to try to make himself fall asleep.

"I guess a modern day Jack the Ripper is all that I am"

-Summary of the first verse...this is what he has become rap-wise, and he's about to explain how.

"I almost look comatose
Who wants to be sober? Gross
I foam like a Doberman, mouth open, I overdose
Put coke up my nostrils, in both my holes, then I plug my nose
My pupils quadruple in size, eyes look so bugged, I know"

-Drugs reference, obviously. Pretty good description of himself, but he forgot the plastic/dough cheeks and overall Pillsbury Doughboy appearance.

"I put on my mother's makeup, get naked and run around"

-A couple of different possibilities for this. Eminem could be talking about his recovery process, and part of it was thinking about how his mother dealt with it and copying her methods...either that she "put on makeup" figuratively, as in pretending she didn't have a problem...or that she accepted that she had a problem, dusted herself off, and worked on getting herself back to normal, which included putting on makeup to get back to normal sober, human vanity.

No doubt, the reference to "running around" in this scenario of him talking about the recovery process refers to him literally running like a mad man...14 miles per day, as he said in an interview.

On the other hand, "get naked and run around" could also be a reference to when he was on drugs, as he recalls the scene in the "Just Lose It" video.

"Wavin the gun around, I think I'm down to 100 pounds."

-Obviously, the reference to being down to 100 pounds after running 14 miles every day to get back in shape. The "wavin the gun around" line doesn't seem to fit with the "recovery" process, but rather the "paranoid wannabe gangsta" version of him that was always "wavin the gun around"...and that actually dated back to the infamous "bouncer" incident. It's also possible that as Eminem was getting off the drugs, he initially was really edgy and started pulling his gun on people, much like his former bodyguard once claimed he did back in the day. LOL...imagine Eminem sobering up and pulling his gun on anyone who pisses him off every 5 minutes.

"There's thunder, I wonder how come it rains, but the sun is out?"

-Now that Eminem is clean, he "feels" things again. So for him, it's "raining"...but strangely, and he can't figure out why, it's also a relief...as if the sun is FINALLY out after all the years of pill popping.

"The devil's upset with his wife, they must be sluggin it out"

-Eminem is now having painful memories of the domestic altercations with Kim while he was on drugs. He is the "Devil" in these memories.

"I must be buggin the fuck out, but what the fuck about?"

-It's been so long since Eminem has "felt" anything that this sort of reaction is as if he's "bugging out" on drugs...but it's the effect of his sobriety.

"Voices are leading me up to my attic, I love my house"

-Now we get the first of metaphorical references to the brain/areas of thought.

"They pull and they tug my blouse, the sound of a music box
Comes from inside a toy chest, but what do I do? It's locked"

-Eminem is trying to access the part of his brain where his dope lyricism is stored and having difficulty doing it.

"I pick it and open it but it's stuffed full of human parts
I dig till I find it, I wind it up and the tune just starts"

-He "finds it," but it's horrorcore that he discovers. Could also be referring to rediscovering "human parts" of himself (different emotions or whatever) in his brain as he's trying to get to the musical part of his brain.

"It's playing a song, so beautiful and the room is dark
The moon is full, I smell a funeral, guess I'll loom in the park"

-He's back and decides this is the route he's headed with his music. He's about to "kill it"...literally and figuratively, which is why he smells a funeral.


3rd verse, he puts it into action...then the reference...

"been doing this for more than a quarter century, I'm just numb"

-Eminem referring to how long he's been rapping...and since he's been doing it so long, he's simply numb to the "controversial and offensivvvveeeee!!!111"-ness of it.

Then the rest of the verse is him demonstrating how well he can paint the picture of this subject matter. Either that, or there are other ways to interpret these lines that I haven't thought of yet.

So what do you think? Am I onto something here or am is it just another random serial killing song with no real intent behind it?

[Fa-Q]

Its about hiphop similar to 25 to life

[Heffernan]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=73364&p=948107&hilit=my+take+on+music+box#p948107

[professor]

you have pretty nice examples, but it might be reaching. But who knows, Ems in a world of his own

[Heffernan]

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New postby Heffernan on Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:43 pm
this is what me and my friend were talking about...what we think the song is "about"

well more or less everything is a metaphor for something

every time he mentions a girl..hes talking about rap (in the begining when he says he trys to get dakota but the door is locked...because his drugs are pulling him away from music)

he mentions food alot in the begining because food is like a metaphor for drugs...

then in the second verse when its sunny but its raining.....its kinda like everybody/everything around him is fine...but since hes on so much drugs he cant really be ok and shit...

then when he finds the music box in the chest...thats like him getting sober

then in the third verse hes really interested in killing the girl (he just wants to come back and kill rap....)

now just listen to it and put some peices together...there is alot more...but im kinda busy so i cant explain everything...but...idk it seems like a good theory to me

[Fa-Q]

There are plenty of lines in the song to support your theory. All the food references in the first verse could be about being "hungry" again.

I always thought it was a serial killer song, but that "quarter of a century" line is oddly specific.

"Been doing this for more than a quarter century, I'm just numb." There is no doubt in my mind he's talking about rapping here. Didn't he say he heard his first rap when he was 9? He was 36 when he wrote this.

Almost kicking myself I didn't see that... since I took notice of "so after a year and six months" in Space Bound.

Regardless, it's a great song in its own right, even if it's not metaphorical.

Yeah he said Ronnie introduced him to rap then

[TheHundred$]

Actually made a lot of sense.

[Willy]

This is good shit. I like this good shit.

[gutawafang]

This is good shit. I like this good shit.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

This is good shit. I like this good shit.

[Solace]

I like my analysis better.

http://www.forum.trshady.com/viewtopic. ... &p=984600&

[Jens14]

Possible, not sure though.

[xxTrigger1989xx]

This is a VERY deep analysis. You coulod be completely right, who knows except for Em?

[Bistnal]

At first I was thinking you were reaching, but some of the lines definitley do point to a deeper meaning.

[Emadyville]

This is good shit. I like this good shit.

I lol'd, but yeah I agree