Mockingbird

Album

Encore (Eminem album)

Label

Shady Records

Genre

Conscious hip hop

Composer(s)

Marshall Mather;Luis Resto

Entered Chart

Jan 1, 2005

Peak Date

Mar 19, 2005

Released

April 25, 2005

Recorded

2004

Catalog #

Shady/Aftermath Album Cut

"Mockingbird" is Eminem's love song for his daughter Hailie Jade and his niece whom he adopted, Lainie. Eminem began his often tumultuous relationship with Hailie Jade's mother Kim in 1989 and married her a decade later when Hailie was three. They divorced two years later. Here, he acknowledges how hard it's been for the two little girls growing up in difficult circumstances with a famous father who is frequently traveling and a mother with drug issues. And you and Lainie were too young to understand it Papa was a rolling stone, Momma developed a habit And it all happened too fast for either one of us to grab it I'm just sorry you were there and had to witness it first-hand Eminem sings the chorus to the tune of the traditional "Mockingbird" lullaby. Sometimes known as "Hush Little Baby," the American folk song originated from the Southern United States. The lullaby soothes infants to sleep with promises of expensive gifts, including a mockingbird, which were often kept as pets in America. Eminem is assuring Hailie, that, despite all the turmoil, "Everything's gonna be alright", because her father is there. Now hush, little baby, don't you cry Everything's gonna be alright Stiffen that upper lip up, little lady, I told ya Daddy's here to hold ya through the night Most of "Mockingbird" is a rare gentle Eminem song with no cussing or cruel rhymes, but at the end, he can't resist cracking a final joke about wringing the mockingbird's neck. And on the very last line, Em directs the F-word at all those haters who want to put him and his girls down. Eminem co-produced "Mockingbird" with Detroit musician Luis Resto. The pair has often worked together since Em's third major-label album, The Eminem Show. Eminem recorded "Mockingbird" for his fifth studio album, Encore. Released as its fifth single, it peaked at #4 in the UK and #11 in the US. The John "QUIG" Quigley-directed video shows Eminem watching home movies about Hailee and Lainie. The song returned to the singles charts worldwide in late 2022 after going viral on TikTok.

Yeah
I know sometimes
Things may not always make sense to you right now
But hey
What daddy always tell you?
Straighten up little soldier
Stiffen up that upper lip
What you cryin' about?
You got me

Hailie, I know you miss your mom and I know you miss your dad
When I'm gone, but I'm tryin' to give you the life that I never had
I can see you're sad, even when you smile, even when you laugh
I can see it in your eyes, deep inside you want to cry
'Cause you're scared, I ain't there?
Daddy's with you in your prayers
No more cryin', wipe them tears
Daddy's here, no more nightmares
We gon' pull together through it, we gon' do it
Lainie, uncle's crazy, ain't he?
Yeah, but he loves you, girl, and you better know it
We're all we got in this world
When it spins, when it swirls
When it whirls, when it twirls
Two little beautiful girls
Lookin' puzzled, in a daze
I know it's confusin' you
Daddy's always on the move, mama's always on the news
I try to keep you sheltered from it but somehow it seems
The harder that I try to do that, the more it backfires on me
All the things growin' up as daddy that he had to see
Daddy don't want you to see but you see just as much as he did
We did not plan it to be this way, your mother and me
But things have got so bad between us
I don't see us ever bein' together ever again
Like we used to be when we was teenagers
But then of course everything always happens for a reason
I guess it was never meant to be
But it's just somethin' we have no control over and that's what destiny is
But no more worries, rest your head and go to sleep
Maybe one day we'll wake up and this'll all just be a dream

Now hush, little baby, don't you cry
Everything's gonna be alright
Stiffen that upper lip up, little lady, I told ya
Daddy's here to hold ya through the night
I know mommy's not here right now, and we don't know why
We fear how we feel inside
It may seem a little crazy, pretty baby
But I promise, mama's gon' be alright

Ha, it's funny
I remember back one year when daddy had no money
Mommy wrapped the Christmas presents up
And stuck 'em under the tree and said some of 'em were from me
'Cause daddy couldn't buy 'em
I'll never forget that Christmas, I sat up the whole night cryin'
'Cause daddy felt like a bum, see daddy had a job
But his job was to keep the food on the table for you and mom
And at the time every house that we lived in
Either kept gettin' broken into and robbed
Or shot up on the block and your mom was savin' money for you in a jar
Tryna start a piggy bank for you so you could go to college
Almost had a thousand dollars 'til someone broke in and stole it
And I know it hurt so bad it broke your mama's heart
And it seemed like everything was just startin' to fall apart
Mom and dad was arguin' a lot so mama moved back
On the Chalmers in the flat one bedroom apartment
And dad moved back to the other side of 8 Mile on Novara
And that's when daddy went to California with his CD
And met Dr. Dre and flew you and mama out to see me
But daddy had to work, you and mama had to leave me
Then you started seein' daddy on the TV and mama didn't like it
And you and Lainie were too young to understand it
Papa was a rollin' stone, mama developed a habit
And it all happened too fast for either one of us to grab it
I'm just sorry you were there and had to witness it first hand
'Cause all I ever wanted to do was just make you proud
Now I'm sittin' in this empty house
Just reminiscin' lookin' at your baby pictures, it just trips me out
To see how much you both have grown, it's almost like you're sisters now
Wow, guess you pretty much are and daddy's still here
Lainie, I'm talkin' to you too, daddy's still here
I like the sound of that, yeah
It's got a ring to it, don't it?
Shh, mama's only gone for the moment

Now, hush little baby, don't you cry
Everything's gonna be alright
Stiffen that upper lip up, little lady, I told ya
Daddy's here to hold ya through the night
I know mommy's not here right now, and we don't know why
We fear how we feel inside
It may seem a little crazy, pretty baby
But I promise mama's gon' be alright

And if you ask me to
Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird
I'ma give you the world
I'ma buy a diamond ring for you
I'ma sing for you
I'll do anything for you to see you smile
And if that mockingbird don't sing and that ring don't shine
I'ma break that birdie's neck
I'll go back to the jeweler who sold it to ya
And make him eat every carat, don't fuck with dad (haha)