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Curtains Close
Eminem Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

This thing on?
Where'd everybody go?
Mm, guess who's back?
Back again
Ken is back, tell some men
Rub my back, rub my back
Rub my back, rub my back
Mm, wait, hello?
Mm, goodnight

Overall Meaning

In this short and simple verse in Eminem's "Curtains Close," he portrays his character, Ken Kaniff, as returning to the scene, possibly after an absence or a lull in his activity. He performs a comical act of demanding attention and physical favor from men around him by asking them to rub his back. However, the following lines - "wait, hello?" and "goodnight" - suggest that the attention and the audience are either absent or unresponsive, leading him to end the verse with a rather lonely note.


It is important to note that Ken Kaniff is not an actual person but a fictional persona created by Eminem as a satirical representation of a gay man. In his earlier works, Eminem used homophobic language and slurs, but his portrayal of Ken Kaniff was also criticized for perpetuating stereotypes about gay men. However, it is also argued that Eminem used this character as a satirical tool to subvert the hip-hop genre's traditional masculinity and to challenge its audience's prejudices.


Interestingly, the "Curtains Close" is not a full song but rather a series of skits and interludes featured in Eminem's 2002 album, "The Eminem Show." These skits, including the Ken Kaniff character, provide a comedic and often absurd contrast to the dark and personal themes explored in the album's main tracks. The use of skits and interludes was a common feature in hip-hop albums of the 90s and early 2000s, but Eminem's approach was particularly imaginative and subversive.


Line by Line Meaning

This thing on?
Is anyone still listening, or have I lost my audience?


Where'd everybody go?
Have people abandoned me, or have they simply moved on to other things?


Mm, guess who's back?
I'm making a return, and I'm ready to remind people of who I am and what I can do.


Back again
I've made a comeback before, but this time it's different. This time I'm ready to show my true self.


Ken is back, tell some men
I'm back as my true self, Marshall Mathers, and I'm ready to make a statement that will be heard by everyone.


Rub my back, rub my back
I need support, encouragement, and love to keep going in this industry.


Mm, wait, hello?
I'm pausing for a moment, unsure if anyone is still there to hear me and support me.


Mm, goodnight
I'm ending this performance, but I'll be back to prove myself again.




Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Marshall B. III Mathers, Luis Edgardo Resto

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Honour


on The Real Slim Shady

May I have your attention, please?
May I have your attention, please?
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
We're gonna have a problem here

Y'all act like you never seen a white person before
Jaws all on the floor like Pam like Tommy just burst in the door
And started whoopin' her ass worse than before
They first were divorced, throwing' her over furniture (ah)
It's the return of the "ah, wait, no way, you're kidding
He didn't just say what I think he did, did he?"
And Dr. Dre said, nothing, you idiots
Dr. Dre's dead, he's locked in my basement (ha ha)
Feminist women love Eminem
"Chicka, chicka, chicka, Slim Shady, I'm sick of him
Look at him, walkin' around, grabbing' his you-know-what
Flippin' the you-know-who"
"Yeah, but he's so cute though"
Yeah, I probably got a couple of screws up in my head loose
But no worse than what s going' on in your parents' bedrooms
Sometimes I wanna get on TV and just let loose
But can't, but it's cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose
"My bum is on your lips, my bum is on your lips"
And if I'm lucky, you might just give it a little kiss
And that's the message that we deliver to little kids
And expect them not to know what a woman's clitoris is
Of course they're gonna know what intercourse is
By the time they hit fourth grade
They've got the Discovery Channel, don't they?
We ain't nothin' but mammals, well, some of us, cannibals
Who cut other people open like cantaloupes
But if we can hump dead animals and antelopes
Then there's no reason that a man and another man can't elope
But if you feel like I feel, I got the antidote
Women, wave your pantyhose, sing the chorus, and it goes

I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?

Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records
Well, I do, so fuck him and fuck you too
You think I give a damn about a Grammy?
Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me
"But Slim, what if you win, wouldn't it be weird?"
Why, so you guys could just lie to get me here?
So you can sit me here next to Britney Spears?
Shit, Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs
So I can sit next to Carson Daly and Fred Durst
And hear 'em argue over who she gave head to first
Little bitch put me on blast on MTV
"Yeah, he's cute, but I think he's married to Kim, hee-hee"
I should download her audio on MP3
And show the whole world how you gave Eminem VD (ah)
I'm sick of you little girl and boy groups
All you do is annoy me, so I have been sent here to destroy you
And there's a million of us just like me
Who cuss like me, who just don't give a fuck like me
Who dress like me, walk, talk and act like me
And just might be the next best thing, but not quite me

'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?

I'm like a headtrip to listen to, 'cause I'm only giving' you
Things you joke about with your friends inside your living' room
The only difference is I got the balls to say it in front of y'all
And I don't gotta be false or sugarcoat it at all
I just get on the mic and spit it
And whether you like to admit it, I just shit it
Better than ninety percent of you rappers out can
Then you wonder, "how can
Kids eat up these albums like Valiums?"
It's funny, 'cause at the rate I'm going, when I'm thirty
I'll be the only person in the nursing home flirting
Pinching nurses asses when I'm jacking off with Jergens
And I'm jerking, but this whole bag of Viagra isn't working
And every single person is a Slim Shady lurking
He could be working at Burger King, spitting' on your onion rings
Or in the parking lot, circling, screaming, "I don't give a fuck"
With his windows down and his system up
So will the real Shady please stand up
And put one of those fingers on each hand up?
And be proud to be outta your mind and outta control
And one more time, loud as you can, how does it go?

I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?
'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up
Please stand up, please stand up?

Ha ha, I guess there's a Slim Shady in all of us
Fuck it, let's all stand up

Noah


on Remember Me?

Remember me? S executions
Remember me? I have no remorse
Remember me? I'm high-powered
Remember me? I drop bombs like Hiroshima

For this one, they scream "X, you retarded?!"
'Cause I grab the mic and get down like syndrome
Hide and roam into the masses
Without boundaries, which qualifies me
For the term "universal" without no rehearsal
I leak words that's controversial
Like I'm not the one you wanna contest, see
'Cause I'll hit your ass like the train did that bitch
That got banned from TV, heavyweight getup
Hit you, watch your whole head split up
Loco is the motion, we comin' through
Hollow-tips is the lead the .45 threw

Remember me? Throw your guns in the air
Remember me? Slam, slam
Remember me? Nigga, back the fuck up
Remember me? Chka-chka-Onyx

Niggas that take no for an answer get told no
Yeah, I been told no, but it was more like "No! No! No!"
Life a bitch, met her, fuck you if you let her
Better come better than better to be a competitor
This vet is ahead of the shit, it's all redder, you deader and deader
A medic instead of the cheddars and credda
Settle vendetta with metal Beretta from ghetto to ghetto
Evidence, nope, never leave a shred of
I got the soul of every rapper in me, love me or hate me
My moms got raped by the industry and made me
I'm the illest nigga ever, I told you
I get more pussy than them dyke bitches Total
Want beef, nigga? Pfft, you better dead that shit
My name should be Can't-Believe-That-Nigga-Said-That-Shit
Probably sayin' he ain't a killer, but I'm killin' myself
Smoke death, fuck bitches raw on the kitchen floor
So think what I'ma do to you, have done to you
Got niggas in my hood who'd do that shit for a blunt or two
What you wanna do? Cocksuckers, we Glock busters
'Til the cops cuff us, gon' start ruckus and drop blockbusters
Round the clock hustlers, you cannot touch us
I'm gettin' wires, niggas wantin' me dead
Wantin' my head, you think it could be somethin' I said?

Remember me? I just don't give a fuck
Remember me? Yeah, fuck you too
Remember me? I'm low down and I'm shifty
Remember me? I'm Shady

When I go out, I'ma go out shootin'
I don't mean when I die, I mean when I go out to the club, stupid
I'm tryin' to clean up my fuckin' image
So I promised the fuckin' critics
I wouldn't say "fuckin'" for six minutes
(Six minutes, Slim Shady, you're on)
My baby's mom, bitch made me an angry blonde
So I made me a song, killed her and put Hailie on
I may be wrong, I keep thinkin' these crazy thoughts
In my cranium, but I'm stuck with a crazy mom
(Is she really on as much dope as you say she's on?)
Came home and somebody must've broke in the back window
And stole two loaded machine guns and both of my trench coats
Six sick dreams of picnic scenes
Two kids, sixteen, with M-16s and ten clips each
And them shits reach through six kids each
And Slim gets blamed in Bill Clint's speech to fix these streets?!
Fuck that! Pfft, you faggots can vanish to volcanic ash
And reappear in hell with a can of gas and a match
Aftermath, Dre, grab the gat, show 'em where it's at
(What the fuck you starin' at, nigga?)

Don't you remember me?
Remember me?
Remember me?
Remember me? (Slim Shady!)

28Rivals


on Lose Yourself

@elchihuahua420 Damn bro, stay strong "You only get one shot don't miss your chance to blow." Don't let them bring you down in life and keep pushing

Noah


on Till ICollapse

Not Afraid

hope


on The Real Slim Shady

hi

eminem


on Crazy In Love

great song

serenity noble


on Lose Yourself

awesome

serenity noble


on The Real Slim Shady

awesome

serenity noble


on Lose Yourself

i love it
#eminemfan

Mind Space Apocalypse


on ShadyXV

Greatest of all time

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