What do you think The Way I Am means?

Eminem: The Way I Am Meaning

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Album cover for The Way I Am album cover

Song Released: 2000


The Way I Am Lyrics

[Eminem]
Whatever..
Dre, just let it run
Aiyyo turn the beat up a little bit
Aiyyo.. this song is for anyone.. fuck it
Just shut up and listen, aiyyo..

I sit back with this pack of Zig Zags and this bag
Of this weed it gives me the shit...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 9th 2007 !⃝

    I sit back with this pack of Zig Zags and this bag
    Of this weed it gives me the shit needed to be
    The most meanest MC on this -- on this Earth
    And since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse
    And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works
    And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve
    All this tension dispensin these sentences
    Gettin this stress that's been eatin me recently off of this chest
    And I rest again peacefully (peacefully)..

    Smoking weed helps him write rhymes, writing rhymes helps him release stress.

    But at least have the decency in you
    To leave me alone, when you freaks see me out
    In the streets when I'm eatin or feedin my daughter
    To not come and speak to me (speak to me)..
    I don't know you and no,
    I don't owe you a mo-therfuck-in thing
    I'm not Mr. N'Sync, I'm not what your friends think
    I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick
    If you tempt me my tank is on empty (is on empty)..
    No patience is in me and if you offend me
    I'm liftin you 10 feet (liftin you 10 feet).. In the air
    I don't care who is there and who saw me destroy you
    Go call you a lawyer, file you a lawsuit
    I'll smile in the courtroom and buy you a wardrobe
    I'm tired of arguin' (of arguin')..
    I don't mean to be mean but that's all I can be is just me

    If you see him in public, don't go talk to him. He's not some friendly person that lives his life to entertain you. If you do approach him, he's going to blow you off; and if you talk shit, he'll kick your ass. He doesn't care if he gets sued because he's rich as hell. He's not trying to be a dick to you specifically, he's just sick of people bothering him.

    And I am, whatever you say I am
    If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
    In the paper, the news everyday I am
    Radio won't even play my jam
    Cause I am, whatever you say I am
    If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
    In the paper, the news everyday I am
    I don't know it's just the way I am

    Everyone's saying he's some asshole druggie, so why argue. He'll just be what they say he is.

    Sometimes I just feel like my father, I hate to be bothered
    With all of this nonsense it's constant
    And, "Oh, it's his lyrical content -
    - the song 'Guilty Conscience' has gotten such rotten responses"
    And all of this controversy circles me
    And it seems like the media immediately
    Points a finger at me (finger at me)..
    So I point one back at 'em, but not the index or pinkie
    Or the ring or the thumb, it's the one you put up
    When you don't give a fuck, when you won't just put up
    With the bullshit they pull, cause they full of shit too

    He feels like his Dad, annoyed. This is probably a dis on his Mom, saying he left them because his Mom is an annoying bitch. He's sick of the media saying how bad his songs are, so he says fuck them.

    When a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up his school
    And they blame it on Marilyn (on Marilyn).. and the heroin
    Where were the parents at? And look where it's at
    Middle America, now it's a tragedy
    Now it's so sad to see, an upper class ci-ty
    Havin this happenin (this happenin)..
    Then attack Eminem cause I rap this way (rap this way)..
    But I'm glad cause they feed me the fuel that I need for the fire
    To burn and it's burnin and I have returned

    Best part of the song, and here's why. And yea it's a reference to Columbine. When some kid in middle class America was getting bullied and shot up his school the media tried blaming it on the music he listened to or the use of drugs. The media always pulls this shit. What was the real problem? Them getting bullied. If the parents of these kids were more involved in their kids' lives, they probably would have realized something was wrong. Either way, why is it that when some kids are shooting each other up in some middle to upper class city ("middle America") it's a tragedy when everyone ignores the same thing happening in the ghettos. What's the difference between some ghetto kid feeling dissed and killing someone and some middle class kid doing the same thing. Where is the media when ghetto kids do this.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 7th 2011 !⃝

    i don't know how half of you morons come up with your interpretations. i won't speak for eminem, because ultimately it is the artist, and only the artist, who was in that place at that time and felt those things which made them write the song, so only they can truly explain their lyrics. each song is an attempt by the artist to explain their opinion, and to share with someone else the exact array of feelings and emotions that are generated in their own mind by those words. since this is impossible, the best we can do is to try to step into their shoes for an instant, both in mind and body, in order to feel precisely what they felt when writing the song. words are quite ineffective at this, but a much stronger connection can be formed if you share the artists opinion, and perhaps even feel the same as him towards whatever the lyrics are about. i think i know where he was coming from when writing this song, and it is very simple:

    this is an attack on the media and everything it does. when he says, 'i am whatever you say i am,' he is not becoming what others think of him, rather, he is saying he just doesn't care. the media will go about writing their stories and saying what they will, and to defend yourself is an epic and never ending battle. so instead of trying to keep up with the onslaught, he just says, f-it, whatever. say what you want, but i am not going to fight back anymore, since it is all bull anyways. the whole song is about how the media twists things around, and says what they want, and makes up things along the way. the reference to his father is in the sense that he walked out on him, and wouldn't be bothered by a child. that is the most extreme way to say i hate being bothered, and that is how he feels towards the media. and OF COURSE this is a reference to Columbine. but his interest in this, and reason for mentioning it, is that the media twisted things all out of proportion. it is the media that gave us our view of those kids, and the media that told us why they did it, and the media that told us who to blame. his beef is with the media and how they slang whatever they want, whatever will make the best story. it is all a bunch of crap, and i am almost as fed up as him about it, except for the fact that i am not a celebrity and bothered by it every day. but that is what pisses him off, and gives him that 'fire.'

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    pc_rap_boi
    click a star to vote
    Aug 19th 2006 !⃝

    Eminem is basically telling the media to stop critisizins him on his music and to shut up.Also that they can say what they want to but he has all of his rights to rap what he wants. I am behind him 100%.

  4. im_gay_and_im_proud
    click a star to vote
    May 11th 2020 !⃝

    he is basically saying people need to shut the fuck up calm there tits cause he isn't changing so his haters get what he wants he knows he can be a dirt bag sometimes and he
    does not care what people think of him and his life story

  5. JVS409
    click a star to vote
    Jul 24th 2012 !⃝

    eminem is telling america that he wont change for anyone. he will do whatever he wants because he can.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 5th 2011 !⃝

    eminem likes men.this song is expressing his feeling for a man in his time of need.i know it because the man is ME!

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 26th 2010 !⃝

    I am whatever you say I am. If I wasn't, they Why would I say I am. In The paper, the news, every day I am. I don't know that's just the way I am.

    He is what he is, he is sick and tired of people bullshitting him. He is what he Is and what he says on the outside. If he was not who he says he his, they why would he say it. He is him and nothing else.

    (sorry for all the he's and him's)

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 2nd 2010 !⃝

    He makes reference to the Columbine Massacre by saying when a dudes gettiong bullied and he shoots up his school. He then goes on to say how people always blame it on drugs and media and parents when it really was bullies, mental disorders and SCHOOL AUTHORITTIES AND PARENTS WITH THEIR HEADS UP THERE BUTTS TO IGNORE THE SIGNS...

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 2nd 2010 !⃝

    He definantly makes a reference to the Columbine High School Massacre. When he says "When a dudes gettin bullied and shoots up his school." He also makes reference to it being the poor parents fault (in a way it was.) The drugs have reference to the levels of depression meds Eric Harris
    had in his body at the time, as well as Dylan Klebold. Eminem also makes one more reference to the massacre in his song "Kim" once again, targetting parents. Many believe he has symapathy for the shooters getting bullied at school so often by their peers which led them to this. Last reference he makes was how crazy it was for The Columbine High School Massacre in a suburban area.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 28th 2009 !⃝

    There's no hidden meaning to this song, no metaphors used. It's simple & straight to the point, just like Eminem.
    He's not a nice guy & he's fine with that, he's just pissed off that the media won't shut up about that: he's accepeted it, why can't they?
    Love "when a dude's getting bullied & shoots up his school, and they blame it on Marylin, and the heroin...", the man's a genius! His music only influences people to write music, not kill people!

  11. zayzay27
    click a star to vote
    Nov 11th 2009 !⃝

    what he is trying to say in this song is that people are always acusing him of the bad things and he is just getting fed up with everyhting he still loves his fans but it's to much fame and he's getting tired he want's alone time to hissself sometimes and just to think of everything.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 20th 2008 !⃝

    Eminem is basically saying that people take him too seriously. He's not a role model, and he's not a nice guy. He accepts that, and he's saying that people won't accept that and they keep saying that he shouldn't be doing the things he's doing. Then, when something bad happens, people say that him not being a role model caused it (aka, columbine, when a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up the school). He just wants to be himself, and say his rhymes without people bothering him about his personal life. He's a rap artist, and that's all

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 15th 2007 !⃝

    This song is about the pressure that he experienced when he was writing the songs for The Marshall Mathers LP. And indeed, he refers to the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999. He mentions the name of Marilyn Manson in the song: "... When a dudes getting bullied and shoots up his school / And they blame it on Marilyn (on Marilyn) / and the heroin...". He tells us that it's ridiculous if we would blame the rock- and metal scene for incidents like these.

  14. metalman536
    click a star to vote
    Apr 1st 2007 !⃝

    is it just me?, or does he say something about the columbine high school massacre in this song? ("when a dudes getting bullied and shoots up his school", and the next 5 lines)

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 17th 2006 !⃝

    This song is about all his frustration he has because he was getting sick of people telling him what kind of song he should do and not what he wants to rap about.He also nearly got fired for it.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 5th 2006 !⃝

    This song basically means and says that he just wants to be left alone. He tells in this song of how fed up he is with the media. How the media gives him a bad name and is trying to mould him into their ideals.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 22nd 2006 !⃝

    This song has many meanings. First one that comes to mind is the part "When a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up his school" this is in reference to the Columbine Shooting Massacre. He wonders where the parents are at and how obviously it is his and others (Marilyn Manson) fault cause there rappers. He just wants everyone to get off his flippin back and let him vibe his feelings.


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