In the midst of waiting for new music by Eminem, the Detroit rapper released a second compilation album titled ‘Curtain Call 2.’ The album did have new songs–which were released as singles prior to the album’s drop. The only other ‘new’ song was “Is This Love (’09),” and as you may tell from the title, it is a song from 2009.
Eminem dropped ‘Curtain Call 2,’ his second greatest hits album, a follow-up to the first compilation album ‘Curtain Call: The Hits’ from 2005. The new album contains some of the best and biggest hits from albums such as ‘Relapse,’ ‘Recovery,’ ‘The MMLP 2,’ ‘Revival,’ ‘Kamikaze,’ ‘Music To Be Murdered By,’ ‘Music To Be Murdered By: Side B,’ a few features, and movie soundtracks.
Eminem has barely had any sound relationships with women. So, it comes as little surprise that he is questioning what love is. The lyrics hint that he might just be infatuated with her physique, which he mistakes for love.
“Is This Love (’09)” features vocals by Eminem’s close friend and long-time collaborator 50 Cent. The song was originally recorded for the ‘Relapse 2’ album which was scrapped following the poor reviews received for the ‘Relapse’ album (however, ‘Relapse’ is a genius creative piece).
Listen to “Is This Love (’09)” by Eminem and 50 Cent
Buy ‘Curtain Call 2’ Album on Apple Music & Amazon
Eminem “Is This Love (’09)” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
As usual, we will only go through notable lyrics and bars from Eminem’s songs. Covering all the lyrics and bars is near impossible and would be a very lengthy read.
Verse 1
In the first verse, Eminem plays with some word pronunciations. He paints a picture of his Slim Shady alter ego, which is commonly seen with a Jason mask and a chainsaw.
But before you skate, I’d like to try to break the ice
Like a frozen lake, so you’ll fall, stay the night
Now, on to the lady, Eminem is supposedly falling in love with. Both lyrics above are a double-entendre. Eminem combines staking on a frozen lake to start a discussion with his love interest. ‘Breaking the ice’ is a phrase used to describe starting a conversation. ‘Stake’ is also a reference to leaving.
This girl is an 8-9 on a scale from 1 to 10. So, she is super good looking and Eminem is hooked.
Your body’s slammin’ like André the Giant
Andre the Giant was a professional wrestler and a literal giant of a man, standing at 7 feet and 4 inches, and over 230 kg (520 lb) in weight. His body slams in the wrestling would have felt like earthquakes. But, so were her body’s effects on Eminem.
Chorus
Eminem is feeling something in his bones. But he is not sure if this is love or lust. If we had to take a guess, we would go with the latter. Em says he is in the mood for some sexual healing, a reference to the iconic song of the same name by Marvin Gaye from 1982.
Verse 2
Finally, Eminem got to talking to this girl and brings her back to his room. He knows she is in the mood, too, if he is reading her sexual innuendos correctly. If he is misreading the situation, it could be another lawsuit.
…earlobe
Nibbling, so gentle, then we disrobe
Their sexual healing begins!
Drugs and whiskey come into the mix, too. This is where things start spiraling down. She gets down and dirty. A few hours later, they wake up in strange surroundings. Did they elope while they were wasted on drugs?
Eminem knows he slept on a memory foam pillow, which is supposed to retain the shape of your head for comfort. But he flips on this and says, he cannot remember anything although it had to do with memory! Clever pun there.
Verse 3
50 Cent joins for the third and final verse of the song. Strangely enough, 50 Cent seems to go all Slim Shady mode in his lyrics, while Eminem was salivating over this girl.
Hi, I’m Shady’s Cronie, Shady done rubbed off on me
Yeah, b*tch, bow me ‘fore he used the chainsaw for me
The above lyrics admit that the manic Shady persona did rub off on 50 Cent. So, his murderous lyrics make sense now.
The song has ‘Relapse’ vibes all over. However, 50 Cent is the one who heightens the Relapse effect in this song. It might be a conscience decision by Eminem and 50 Cent to switch up their personas for this song.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.