"Going Through Changes" by Eminem (Hear it here)
I tried very hard not to use more than one song by a particular group or artist, but I can't help it. Eminem has been big for me these past several months, and this song more than fits today's theme.
"Going Through Changes" outlines the artist's slow, inexorable decline into addiction and suicide after the death of his best friend, the rapper Proof, and shows how true love can bring anyone back from even the deepest abyss.
The hook of the song is sampled directly from the chorus of "Changes" by Black Sabbath. The contrast in tone is striking because although both songs deal with loss, Sabbath's song is pining for a lost love, while Eminem is trying to find a way to survive without someone he grew up with, close as brothers. Even so, Ozzy's slow, pining declaration seems to fit perfectly in each section of the song.
The issues touched on in this song are the issues that are present all through Recovery: the death of Proof, the price of fame, Em's own disappointment in his previous work, and his drug addiction and near-fatal overdose. In this track, however, they're woven into a narrative that illustrates the fall and fall of Eminem in the years following Proof's death. The emotion carried by the song is a complete contrast to the near-monotone delivery. In fact, the delivery amplifies the emotion by not getting in its way - Eminem has a voice and a style that can overpower any song. This song shows he can do subtle as well.
There'll be at least one more Em song on this list. You have been warned.
BTW, if you don't at least tear up the first time you hear Hailie say "Daddy", you have no soul.
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