Lose Yourself: Deciphering Some Of The Lyrics To The Eminem Classic And How They Connect To 8 Mile

“He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out…”

Upon a first listen, the song seems general enough. Eminem opens the track by asking if you had one shot of reaching your dreams, would you take it? And yes, anybody can relate to that. But in actuality, this idea is directly tied to the narrative of the film, as Eminem’s character wants nothing more than to be a world-famous rapper, and he’s cutting his teeth on the underground, freestyle circuit. But one lyric in particular stands out in regards to that narrative thread:

What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud. He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out. He’s chokin’, how, everybody’s jokin’ now.