To understand the importance of "Say Goodbye Hollywood" in the context of Eminem's career, one must be familiar with the narrative that plagued him in the early millennium. Following the release of The Marshall Mathers LP, Em was seen as a public enemy, a homophobic misogynist that played a pivotal role in influencing young people's violent tendencies. Songs like "Kill You," "I'm Back," and "Criminal" were about as alienating to a concerned parent as can be.
Yet with the release of The Eminem Show eighteen years ago to this day, the shroud that seemed to veil the guarded artist lifted to reveal the man beneath. One of the most impactful track in that regard was "Say Goodbye Hollywood," the centerpiece of the emotionally honest album. In some ways a companion piece to "The Way I Am," "Say Goodbye Hollywood" stripped away the defense mechanisms and revealed the depths of his insecurities. Em's writing is particularly strong in the climactic verse, as he weaves together his frustrations at how things played out.
"It's like the boy in the bubble, who never could adapt, I'm trapped, if I could go back, I never woulda rapped," he confesses, a line clearly penned at one of his darkest moments. "I sold my soul to the devil, I'll never get it back, I just wanna leave this game with level head intact / Imagine goin' from being a no-one to seeing everything blow up and all you did was just grow up emceeing." While it doesn't often get named among Em's best tracks, "Say Goodbye Hollywood" is easily one of his most impactful, a moment of self-analysis and reinvention. Happy anniversary to The Eminem Show, his arguable magnum opus.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
It's like the boy in the bubble, who never could adapt
I'm trapped, if I could go back, I never woulda rapped
I sold my soul to the devil, I'll never get it back
I just wanna leave this game with level head intact
Imagine going from being a no-one to seeing
Everything blow up, and all you did was just grow up emceeing
