He then goes on to insult his mother by telling her he will not take his daughter(s) to her funeral and is enraged that she will not admit she was a bad mother and calls her out for suing him and says: "But how dare you try and take what you didn't help me to get / You selfish bitch, I hope you fucking burn in hell for this shit!" Finally, he mentions that at his uncle Ronnie's funeral, his mother told him he should have died instead, giving way to the final lyric: "Well, guess what? I am dead / Dead to you as can be!"Īllmusic highlighted this song. My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn't." He also mentions the demo that his mother put out for him in hopes of repairing their estranged relationship called "Set the Record Straight" and claimed she made it to try to justify the way she treated him. At the start of the third verse, Eminem states that his comments regarding his mother are not made for the sake of public attention ("now I would never diss my own mama just to get recognition"), before accusing her of medicinal drug abuse and Münchausen syndrome by proxy as stated in the line, "Victim of Münchausen's syndrome.The second verse then moves on to how his father abandoned him and his mother when Eminem was an infant, and then goes on to say how he would not do the same to his own daughter.In the first verse, Eminem deals with the criticism and activism against his lyrics, and how these people do not understand his background and personality.When editing the song, Eminem chose to leave it in the song.
The recording engineer had muted the snare drums in his headphones during the recording of the song. At the beginning of the song, music begins to play, Eminem asks "Where's my snare? I have no snare in my headphones." That actually happened."Cleanin' Out My Closet" was also used in the initial theatrical trailer to Eminem's film 8 Mile, released in November 2002, but was not included on the film's soundtrack. The song did not reach number one on any foreign charts, but was certified Platinum in Australia. It became the second Top 10 single from the album, reaching number four on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart, and one of the highest-charting singles of his career. In the chorus, Eminem sarcastically apologizes to his mother for hurting her and making her cry, but takes it back by showing the world what his mother, according to him, was like. It depicts Eminem venting his anger towards his mother, Debbie Mathers, for the way she raised him.
Unlike the preceding single which was as his humorous Slim Shady persona, "Cleanin' Out My Closet" was a serious song inspired by the events of Eminem's childhood and relationships. "Cleanin' Out My Closet" was the second single released off the album following " Without Me". " Cleanin' Out My Closet" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his album The Eminem Show (2002).