Eminem ft Rhianna: Love The Way You Lie - Song Meaning

The music video definitely shows what the song is about, too many people listen to this song and say it's just the guy being abusive. That is just wrong. Both parties are at fault, their love brings them together but their mistrust and jealousy pushes them apart.

I can't tell you what it really is
I can only tell you what it feels like

(Eminem is describing the relationship. He can't describe how the relationship really is because the love/hate aspect would make anyone think that they are both crazy, but if he describes how they can love each other so passionately and yet intensely hate each other at the same time maybe people will understand the relationship better)

And right now there'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

(This is right after they have an argument. He feels horrible about what he said and did to her but part of him gets a rush out of the fights they have and as long as he still gets the rush he knows it's still going to happen.)

High off of love, drunk from her hate
It's like I'm huffing paint
And I love it the more that I suffer
I suffocate
And right before I'm about to drown she resuscitates me
She fucking hates me and I love it

(Again, he loves and hates her at the same time, the first line says that it's mutual though and she loves/hates him right back and he loves it. She starts the arguments too but right before he decides to leave her she knows just what to do to bring the relationship back but still shows that she hates him at the same time.)

Wait, where you going
I'm leaving you
No you ain't, come back

(Obviously a conversation between the two. I get the feeling that the lines really could alternate either way with either the guy having the first line or the girl. It could be the guy from the previous phrase getting ready to leave the girl, or it could be the girl deciding to leave the guy. either way it's happened before and will happen again.)

We're running right back
Here we go again
It's so insane
'cause when it's going good, it's going great
I'm Superman with the wind in his back
She's Lois Lane
But when it's bad, it's awful

(This is the proof that the previous lines have happened before "Here we go again", but before that it also says that they're going to get back together again. He tries to describe again just how the relationship is, when it's good it's amazing, it could never be better. I like how he understates how it is when it's bad, but he does it to prove a point. The point is that they love each other more than they hate each other and that's why they keep running back to each other despite the constant fights.)

I feel so ashamed
I snapped
Who's that dude
I don't even know his name
I laid hands on her
I'll never stoop so low again
I guess I don't know my own strength

(Pretty self-explanatory IMHO, She was talking to another guy and he got jealous and snapped. I feel that the fact he didn't know the other guy's name is irrelevant, he probably would've snapped anyway. The point here is that it's not just his fault. She was almost egging him on because she knew just how jealous he was but was with that other guy anyway.)

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

(This describes the love hate relationship they have and how no matter what he does she'll always come right back to him. She's in love with the pain both physical and emotional because of the intensity and rush of emotions that come with it. When she says she loves the way he lies it means that she loves the way he lies to her about how he'll change and it will never happen again even though she knows better and they'll continue to fight)

You ever love somebody so much
You can barely breathe when you're 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 fucking sick of looking at 'em

(I think we've all been here at some point. You meet somebody and it's complete head over heels love at first sight. You don't eat, sleep, or anything else much anymore. All you want is to be with that other person. When you think of them you're instantly warm and happy, and you get chills looking at them and realizing how perfect that they are (at least in your own eyes). Then all of a sudden, one day after seeing them forever it's like a wake up call. You suddenly see all of their little imperfections and it makes you almost physically sick. You feel like you never want to see them again, you get angry at them with the hopes that they will leave you alone.)

You swore you've never hit 'em
Never do nothing to hurt 'em
Now you're in each other's face
Spewing venom in your words when you spit 'em

(In the beginning of a relationship you swear you'll treat them like a king/queen, never do anything to hurt them either physically or emotionally. Later on though after things change like above, you start to argue, it starts off small then it gets bigger and bigger.)

You push, pull each other's hair
Scratch, claw, bit 'em
Throw 'em down, pin 'em
So lost in the moments when you're in 'em
It's the rage that took over
It controls you both
So they say it best to go your separate ways
Guess that they don't know ya
'cause today, that was yesterday
Yesterday is over
It's a different day

(The first half describes the fights that they have. It started off verbally above but after a while they built up a tolerance to the verbal fights so it had to get bigger, they started fighting physically. Notice again that Eminem doesn't blame one side or the other, he says that they're both to blame for the fighting because of the emotional rush that they both get from the fights. When they're in either they're good or their bad moments it's like they never want it to end because of the emotional rush both the good and the bad gives them. Again, he says that the rage isn't just him or just her, it's them both. It controls both them and the relationship. The fighting is actually what they have in common, they both need it and it's what keeps them together. They're friends tell them that they're crazy for acting how they do and they need to break up. They both agree that they're friends don't know what they're talking about and don't know them well enough. He lies and promises it won't happen again and that's why they say that today is different than yesterday, even though they both know it's not and they're destined to fight again.)

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

(Eminem breaks the forth wall here and talks directly to the listener that's in a normal relationship. In a normal relationship couples often break up after large fights. Eminem tells the listener not to be like the couple in the song and to learn to control themselves because "life is no nintendo game", if a person messes up big odds are that they deserve to be broken up with. I love the play on words he uses at the end with window pane (pain).)

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 your 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

(I look at this as the guy talking to the girl. The guy says he knows that they didn't really mean what they said when they fought but he also admits that the fighting has now become routine for them. They both expect and accept it. He tries to appeal to her by making her realize that they're the exact same. They both have really bad tempers and so they fight constantly, however neither one of them can see it because of how "love is blind" and they love each other to the fine line of love and hate. He begs her to come back. Once again appeals to how their relationship isn't crazy, it's just how it is because of how they both are and they both love to hate each other. The fact that he uses a tornado and a volcano, two very destructive forces again shows how it's not just one or the other's fault, they both are too jealous, controlling, loving, all at the same time. He takes the blame for this fight though because he knows it will make her come back. He says next time he'll take his anger out on the wall instead of her.)

Next time, there won't be no next time

(I see this as the girls reply, she's starting another fight here. She knows that saying no will make him angry again and start another fight, she knows it's going to happen, but she hates and loves it at the same time.)

I apologize even though I know it's lies

(His reply to hers to once again try to get her back. He apologizes for his temper but he knows it's a lie and that they will eventually fight again.)

I'm tired of the games
I just want her back
I know I'm a liar
If she ever tries to fucking leave again
I'ma tie her to the bed and set the house on fire

(This ending is him talking to himself. He's personally starting to get tired of the fights because he knows that they push her away from him. He knows he's lying to himself though and that he knows that he'll start another fight. His jealousy/controlling temper decides that he won't let her leave and he decides what he'll do if she ever actually does leave. I think though that according to the music video that the next time that she tries to leave he does get mad and sets the house on fire, but they both survive as they can be seen outside of the burning building at the end. The fact that they're both on fire is not literal, it's the burning of their relationship, how they both love each other but the fighting is destroying them both. I also think they survive as i believe that they're both kissing in front of the burning house at the end, showing that even though he took such drastic measures, they're both still very much in love).

Eminem ft Rhianna: Love The Way You Lie Music Video