On July 12, Eminem released his new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). While the album features several hard-hitting tracks, what many didn’t anticipate on this project was a heart-warming tribute to his daughter in his song “Temporary.” The song serves as a love letter to Eminem’s daughter, Hailie, and contains all of the things he wants to say to her when he’s no longer here. Cue the tears.
The introduction of the song dedicates itself to Hailie as Eminem raps, “A lot of people ask me, am I afraid of death? / The truth is, I think what scares me the most is not being able to / say all the things I wanna say to you when I’m no longer here / So this song is for Hailie, for when that day comes.” The deeply emotional and heartwarming intro acknowledges how his music, words, memory, and experiences with Hailie will continue to live on, even after he has passed.
The song discusses the theme that pain and hardship are temporary. In the chorus, Skylar Grey sings, “That when a heart breaks, it ain’t broken forever / The pieces will grow back together / And in time, I’ll be fine / The tears are temporary.”
In the third verse, Eminem raps, “I will protect you, your guardian angel / As hard as this may feel, as parting is painful” along with other verses that describe how he will always be watching over Hailie after he’s gone, and how time heals all wounds.
Fans have taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to post their reactions to this emotional, heart-warming song and tribute to Hailie.
me after listening to fucking temporary #TheDeathOfSlimShady#Eminem pic.twitter.com/QUyZDC2ALy
— val⁹ 𖹭 TDOSS (@sanaslogy) July 12, 2024
It’s way too early for me to sit here crying over Temporary by Eminem.
— Eminem & Shady News (@ShadyFansite) July 12, 2024
Eminem’s track “Temporary” is actually a tear jerker man #TheDeathOfSlimShady pic.twitter.com/0yJB0QzhA1
— 🎙 HiphopSessions (@AllHHSessions) July 12, 2024
Eminem’s temporary track should have came with a warning 😭 pic.twitter.com/U87LcK4Cho
— Matthewlfc (@matthew_LFC1991) July 12, 2024
Everyone after listening to fucking Temporary #TheDeathOfSlimShady#Eminem pic.twitter.com/yzav8szclN
— Robert Gillespie (@lalaaa95) July 12, 2024
Eminem has dedicated music to his children before. He wrote his song “Mockingbird” from his album Encore for his daughters Hailie and Alaina. Eminem included a reference to the song in “Temporary” in the lines, “But don’t you shed a tear, what I tell you? / ‘Straighten up, little soldier’ them time when I held you.”
In the fourth verse of the song, Eminem describes these lyrics as “the hardest thing” he’s ever written and continuously encourages Hailie to never give up. He raps, “There’s gonna be rainy days / I promise you’ll get through ‘em and make it regardless.”
This tear-jerking song establishes Eminem’s legacy in his family and his proud role as Hailie’s father, and it is so heartwarming.