{"id":3994,"date":"2010-09-14T14:01:16","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T20:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jesusneedsnewpr.net\/?p=3994"},"modified":"2011-05-03T17:00:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T17:00:08","slug":"can-you-i-handle-eminems-my-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesusneedsnewpr\/2010\/09\/can-you-i-handle-eminems-my-truth.html","title":{"rendered":"Can You (I) Handle Eminem’s (My) Truth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

You’ve probably heard this song (“Love the Way You Lie”) by Eminem (with Rihanna).<\/p>\n

Warning<\/strong>: The above version is the unedited version, so keep that in mind if there are children around.<\/p>\n

I’m not a big fan of rap music. Unless it’s being played on Top-Forty, I probably have never heard it. But for some reason, whenever Eminem releases new music, I have to listen. Even if it’s just once. Of course, “Love the Way You Lie” is being played twice an hour on some stations, so it’s difficult not listening. Still, even if it wasn’t playing on every pop station 100 times a day, I’d listen…<\/p>\n

…because I relate to it.<\/p>\n

The narrative in the song reflects pretty extreme (I’m assuming they’re extreme) circumstances of an abusive relationship. Now, I’ve never felt the need to burn a house down. And in my entire life, I’ve only hit somebody once (in the 8th grade… on the school bus… after one of my classmates spit on a girl–I punched him… and then he punched me. And he punched me again. Pushed me onto the dirty bus floor and punched me again… and then one more time…), but still, I can relate to some of the passion and anger and frustration and expectations and emotion in this song’s lyric…<\/p>\n

I can’t tell you what it really is
\nI can only tell you what it feels like
\nAnd right now there’s a steel knife
\nIn my windpipe
\nI can’t breathe
\nBut I still fight
\nWhile I can fight
\nAs long as the wrong feels right
\nIt’s like I’m in flight
\nHigh off a love
\nDrunk from the hate…<\/em><\/p>\n

…Wait
\nWhere you going
\nI’m leaving you
\nNo you ain’t
\nCome back
\nWe’re running right back
\nHere we go again
\nIt’s so insane
\nCause when it’s going good
\nIt’s going great
\nI’m Superman
\nWith the wind in his bag
\nShe’s Lois Lane<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Can you relate? At all? Maybe not your current relationship, but a past one?<\/p>\n

You swore you’ve never hit ’em
\nNever do nothing to hurt ’em
\nNow you’re in each other’s face
\nSpewing venom
\nAnd these words
\nWhen you spit ’em
\nYou push
\nPull each other’s hair
\nScratch, claw, bit ’em
\nThrow ’em down…<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve spewed venom before…<\/p>\n

Not proud of it. But I have. And then afterward, when the emotion behind the words is gone (or hidden), I end up feeling a little like this…some crazy\/pathetic\/human mixture of guilt, apology, blame, dependence, and “reason”…<\/p>\n

…Now I know we said things
\nDid things
\nThat we didn’t mean
\nAnd we fall back
\nInto the same patterns
\nSame routine
\nBut your temper’s just as bad
\nAs mine is
\nYou’re the same as me
\nBut when it comes to love
\nYou’re just as blinded
\nBaby please come back
\nIt wasn’t you
\nBaby it was me
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then comes my favorite line in the song…<\/p>\n

…Maybe that’s what happens
\nWhen a tornado meets a volcano
\nAll I know is
\nI love you too much
\nTo walk away though…<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then perhaps the most truthful part of the lyric… maybe not in the actual circumstances… but the emotion…. the anger… the war between good\/bad happening inside your (my) head….<\/p>\n

…Next time
\nThere will be no next time
\nI apologize
\nEven though I know it’s lies
\nI’m tired of the games
\nI just want her back
\nI know I’m a liar
\nIf she ever tries to fucking leave again
\nI’mma tie her to the bed
\nAnd set the house on fire…<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, the narrative presents an extreme situation… but still, there’s a lot of truth in those words… we don’t like to admit these kinds of truths most of the time. Usually, these truths, whether literal (you’ve burned down your lover’s house) OR physical or emotional or verbal or fill-in-your-own-blank<\/em> get kept inside the walls of our houses or condos or dorm rooms or… because we’re embarrassed about these things…<\/p>\n

I think I relate to this song because it displays a raw kind of humanity… the kind of humanity that any one of us is capable of becoming (or revealing…) put in the right (wrong…) circumstances.<\/p>\n

This song also presents the sort of truth (anger… violence… physical abuse… verbal abuse… emotional abuse…) that sometimes (not always…) gets ignored inside the walls of churches.<\/p>\n

Sometimes that’s because it’s happening inside the walls of the church… again, not necessarily the physical part… but the emotional part and the verbal part…<\/p>\n

…which is why I pose the question… can we handle Eminem’s (our?) truth?<\/p>\n

Cuz sometimes truth ain’t pretty, which might be why we Christians use asterisks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’ve probably heard this song (“Love the Way You Lie”) by Eminem (with Rihanna). Warning: The above version is the unedited version, so keep that in mind if there are children around. I’m not a big fan of rap music. Unless it’s being played on Top-Forty, I probably have never heard it. But for some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,62,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-me","category-media","category-music"],"yoast_head":"\nCan You (I) Handle Eminem's (My) Truth? - Jesus Needs New PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesusneedsnewpr\/2010\/09\/can-you-i-handle-eminems-my-truth.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can You (I) Handle Eminem's (My) Truth? - Jesus Needs New PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You’ve probably heard this song (“Love the Way You Lie”) by Eminem (with Rihanna). 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