http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQx1xHiUGxA

Yesterday I heard about rapper Eminem sampling Joe Walsh’s 1978 solo record “Life’s Been Good”.  I pulled up the song, anticipating that it would be sort of a mess.  That is true, it is sort of a mess, but it’s funny.  What Eminem does well is incorporate his life into his songs, but up to now, at least the songs I know, seem tough (thinking Lose Yourself the anthem that was the soundtrack to Eight Mile, the movie in which he played a young white rapper trying to make it in the predominately “black” dominated world of rap).  Hate or love rap, that song is a good one to make one feel like pushing themselves.  In contrast to that song, this one has funny lyrics, even making fun of the concept of friends on Facebook.  This is the second song I’ve heard from Eminem’s late 2013 release (the other song being the number one pop hit about monsters under the bed) is also a parody on being famous from humble roots.  I know humble roots, that’s for sure, and my present has a great deal of humility in it too.  So the Eminem song I expected to be a mess hit me pretty well on this first listen through.

As for what I think of this one from the rock ‘n’ roll standpoint….

I remember a radio interview I heard about two years ago where Joe Walsh said that song was “him” writing from an unhappy place subjectively, even though the song sounds happy objectively.  Mind you those are my interpretations of his words, not his actual words, but that was his message in his interview answer.  So I’m thinking Eminem might have heard that same interview and used the song for the same subjective meaning.  Meaning aside, however, the actual music is important because if this song gets released on the radio, we will hear Joe Walsh’s, Life’s Been Good on the pop stations.  Sure it will be called Eminem’s So Far, but wow that guitar hook sounds pretty gorgeous, and it will be even more gorgeous to have non-rock people wanting to know how that guitar hook goes just as much as they imaginary sang along to the vocal hook on Monsters.  And what if they even turn it up? Then, in the future, we could hear guitar-singing out of those car windows at stop lights!  So I’m crossing my fingers that this will be Eminem’s next single release.  And if it follows the path that Monsters (under my bed) took, while people may not actually sing the guitar hook we will hear guitar at number one, bitches!