Há no hip hop de Eminem uma urgência emocional que nasce de um paradoxal realismo: o confronto com a crueldade do mundo elabora-se a partir de uma vontade de gerar algo de inusitado e livre, realmente bigger than life. Acontecia assim no teledisco de Not Afraid, primeiro single do álbum Recovery. Volta acontecer no segundo, Love the Way You Lie, dirigido pelo brilhante Joseph Kahn: com Rihanna, Eminem encena um par — interpretado por Megan Fox e Dominic Monaghan — que vive uma situação de amor/ódio que desemboca no simbolismo devastado da casa em fogo do final. Sem recusar os ecos de um muito específico caso de violência doméstica de 2009 (quando Rihanna foi agredida pelo namorado, Chris Brown), Eminem baralha e volta a dar os dados de uma cultura mediática onde, como ele demonstra, já não cabe nenhuma ilusão romântica — esta é uma arte de dor e raiva, ligada às desarmantes evidências do quotidiano.Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I can't tell you what it really is, I can only tell you what it feels like
And right now it's a steel knife in my windpipe
I can't breathe but I still fight while I can fight
As long as the wrong feels right it's like I'm in flight
High off her love, drunk from my hate, it's like I'm huffin' paint
And I love it the more I suffer, I suffocate
And right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me, she fuckin' hates me
And I love it, "wait, where you goin'?"
"I'm leavin' you," "no you ain't come back"
We're runnin' right back, here we go again
So insane, cause when it's goin' good it's goin' great
I'm Superman with the wind in his back, she's Lois Lane
But when it's bad it's awful, I feel so ashamed I snap
Whose that dude? I don't even know his name
I laid hands on her
I never stoop so low again
I guess I don't know my own strength
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
...
You ever love somebody so much you can barely breatheWhen you with'em you meet and neither one of you even know what hit'em
Got that warm fuzzy feeling
Yeah them chills used to get'em
Now you're getting fuckin' sick of lookin' at'em
You swore you'd never hit'em, never do nothin' to hurt'em
Now you're in each other's face spewin' venom in your words when you spit'em
You push pull each other's hair
Scratch claw hit em throw em down pin'em
So lost in the moments when you're in'em
It's the face that's the culprit, controls you both
So they say it's best to go your seperate ways
Guess that they don't know ya
Cause today that was yesterday
Yesterday is over, it's a different day
Sound like broken records playin' over
But you promised her next time you'll show restraint
You don't get another chance
Life is no nintendo game, but you lied again
Now you get to watch her leave out the window
Guess that's why they call it window pane
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
...
Now I know we said things, did things, that we didn't mean
And we fall back into the same patterns, same routine
But your temper's just as bad as mine is, you're the same as me
When it comes to love you're just as blinded
Baby please come back, it wasn't you, baby it was me
Maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems
Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano
All I know is I love you too much to walk away though
Come inside, pick up the bags off the sidewalk
Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk?
Told you this is my fault, look me in the eyeball
Next time I'm pissed I'll aim my fist at the drywall
Next time there won't be no next time
I apologize even though I know it's lies
I'm tired of the games I just want her back
I know I'm a liar if she ever tries to fuckin' leave again
I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
...