Eminem: Stan Meaning

Song Released: 2000

Stan Lyrics

Stan

Chorus: Dido

My tea's gone cold I'm wondering why I...
got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window...
and I can't see at all
And even if I could it'll all be gray,
but your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jan 15th 2006 !⃝

   I'm wondering if there could be a deeper meaning to this song. We all know that Eminem refers to himself as 'Slim Shady', and this is the star that Stan obsesses over. I'm wondering if this could be a sort of inner monologue to himself, an allegory of sorts of how he stands to lose everything due to his alter-ego. In the beginning, Stan appears to be a fairly well adjusted man who tries to communicate with his idol. However, he cannot keep up communication, and ends up dying, taking his young family with him. In his recent song 'when I'm gone' Eminem worries about the possible loss of his life as it stands due to his alter ego: Slim. 'We could be together' could be an attempt to reconcile the different aspects of his persona, which he fails to manage. Stan does not appear to be gay as he has a pregnant girlfriend, so this is why I have arrived at this conclusion. 'If you didn't wanna talk to me at the show, you didn't have to' could illustrate the extent of the situation, how in becoming Slim, he is totally separated from his true self. 'He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do' struck me particularly strange as he claims to be his biggest fan, so this could refer to the way that the innocent youth look up to him. 'Sometimes I even cut myself'......his way of trying to feel because he feels himself disappearing into the persona of Slim.His speech becomes more disjointed through the course of the song, until he ends up high, drunk and plummeting over a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in his car trunk. This is the death of Stan. I believe that Eminem could be looking to the death of his true self, the taking over of his stage persona. In the end it is simply Slim giving him advice, not realising that he is already dead, and Eminem is probably prophesising how he will know what he needs to do once it is too late, and is expressing fear at this. 'Damn', a mild expletive, is because few would care at the loss of who is truly is, because all the fans know is Slim. He's afraid that it will mean nothing.
   
   That's what I think anyway =P

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   bhath01

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   Jul 18th 2010 !⃝

   TO ALL THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT THIS IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY ABOUT STANLEY MITCHELL(a blues musician from Detroit, not some over-obsessive fan who committed a murder/suicide): Please provide a source(i.e. a newspaper article, an obituary,etc) to prove that this was in fact a true story otherwise people should believe this quote from Marshall Mathers himself: When asked if there is a connection between Stan from the song "Stan" and Stan from the song "Guilty Conscience" Eminem replied:
   "Eminem: No. Stan was just somebody completely made up, based on what could happen if you take my lyrics too seriously. I'm nice enough and courteous enough to tell the kids at the end of the day this is not how you want to be. You don't want to grow up to be just like me. When I say, 'Jump off a f*cking bridge or slit your wrists,' that's not what I'm really trying to say. It's tongue in cheek."
   
   wise up people, if Stan was a true story then you would be able to easily find factual evidence to back it up, it would have been all over MTV, Eminem would have been plastered with questions like "don't you take this kid's suicide seriously since you wrote a song about it" or " why would you disrespect the deceased by writing that song" or "do you care about your fans, because this guy killed himself because you wouldn't answer his letters". come on, wise up people, don't believe half of what you read without checking out some facts to back it up.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jul 14th 2009 !⃝

   Eminem has multiple personalities
   
   Eminem- Pissed of part of him
   Marshal- Serious Part of him
   Slim shady- Fun up beat part of him
   
   This song is about a fan who killed himself and his girlfriend by driving off a bridge but its also about how he wants marshal and slim to merge together or how slim is taking over.
   [Marshal is his real name]
4. anonymous

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   Aug 22nd !⃝

   This is one of my favorite songs. It shows Eminem's prowess as a storyteller, and I feel scared when Stan kills himself. I feel like the story is real and the lyrics are heartfelt, which is why I enjoy Eminem's music. He doesn't give a fuck about a Grammy, (Even if he got that too)
   he just enjoys rapping and music.
5. anonymous

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   Jul 30th !⃝

   I interpret it as some of the real s##t celebrities go through (example is fans killing themselves because of there idols not responding to them)
6. anonymous

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   Aug 20th 2023 !⃝

   So As we do know slim shady is a popular rapper in the song and stan is an over obsessive fan. From My point of view what eminem is trying to say is life is worth than anything else in the world so don't waste it over a letter from your idol instead become greater than your idol...
7. anonymous

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   Jan 24th 2017 !⃝

   It's about a fan named stan who killed himself because eminem wasn't responding.
8. anonymous

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   Aug 13th 2016 !⃝

   I'm a little late to be evaluating this song because of how old it is but Eminem isn't just referred to as "slim shady" because shady is an alternate personality. Now about the song I've listened to both "Stan" and "bad guy" and honestly I'm having a hard time believing that Stan and Matthew are real people. I think they are metaphors for something much more important. Stan could be a literal metaphor for obsession for obvious reasons. Then Matthew is a metaphor for revenge. Or maybe that's just how it seems on the surface. Maybe he is a metaphor or a symbol for eminems own hatred for shady and how he treats and talks to people. I might be wrong but "Stan" and "bad guy" have entrigued me for quite some time. But for now I'll say that Stan himself is a symbol for shady. He shows that shady is obsessive. I'm probably wrong but that's just how I see it. I don't just wanna look at the lyrics and read what they say and tell people that that's what it means. I wanna tell people the deeper meaning because a good artist makes you think. Eminem is a good artist.
9. anonymous

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   Feb 20th 2015 !⃝

   This song is not real. Stan is not a real person. This song is confusing because it's about an insane fan who in the ended up dead because of his obsession with slim shady. I think this is to show that even if you think your his biggest fan there's always going to be that 1 person whose better than you
10. anonymous

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    Jan 15th 2015 !⃝

    I believe Em also said it himself in an interview or something but correct me if I'm wrong. This is not a true story but Eminem tries to tells his fans not to be so over-obsessed, just like Stan was on the music video. I believe that from all the feedback that he gets from his fans, such as some crazy letters, he has understood that there are people out there capable of ending up hurting themselves over a musician like him and he is trying to prevent anything like that happening.
11. anonymous

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    Oct 19th 2012 !⃝

    i believe the song could have too differnt meanings. if you think about it slim shady could be trying too say how fans can get obsesed him think bout if this song was based on a true will eminem actually admit it nd probaly the police didnt say anything too news because they didnt want ruin his carrer. the other reason could be that eminem is trying too relate too stan as himself cause when was lil he wrote letters too his father but his father never replied back. so either one of them could be the meaning

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

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    Apr 21st 2012 !⃝

    This is my interpretation: Stan is a guy who's depressed and looks up to Eminem as his only escape. It's obvious Stan really likes Eminem because he looks a lot like Slim. In the music video Stan has blond hair and wears tank tops and t-shirts. He puts the picture of Slim over his girlfriend for 1 of 2 reasons. Either he's comparing himself to Slim or imagining life with him. I think it's the second option because Stan writes in his letters he wants to be together. He also says his little brother likes Slim more than he does. Towards the end, Matthew reveals that he has blond hair- making him almost twice as prone to become obsessed, if not already. Marshall Mathers was trying to make a point in this video: don't take his lyrics too seriously, and please don't throw away your childhood or life just because he jokes about it.
13. anonymous

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    Mar 13th 2012 !⃝

    yes, stan is a true story, and stan died of a car crash on march 23 1999 with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk.
    And the reason there is a deeper meaning is because Eminem didnt want any other of his super fans to kill
    themselves over something as little as not answering a fan mail. But all in all, he just wants people not to do the same thing as Stanley Mitchell did.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Mar 2nd 2012 !⃝

    its about a fan who became progressively more and more addicted by slim,he sent letters but wasnt replied,had his girl in his car trunk drove 90 on a free way in the end he killed himself.then eminem received the news sais damn cause knew that could have done somethin before it was too late.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
15. anonymous

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    Feb 1st 2012 !⃝

    THIS IS A RESPONSE TO bhath01. He asks for evidence that it was about Stanley Mithcell and if you watch the music video it shows Stan's "little brother" and their mom standing at a grave that says Stanley Mitchell so yes it is a true story

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
16. anonymous

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    Dec 29th 2011 !⃝

    Man I thought that song was awesome I use to fell just like Stan I use to listing to your song all day but not the part where we should be together and I'm not gay I got a girl friend this is only my 2 letter and last see yah
17. hyp3rK1dz

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    Oct 25th 2011 !⃝

    i think this song is about a fan ( stan ) who writes a letter hoping for a reply but he doesent get a reply from slim and he starts to feel like a nobody and later on in the song he starts to have a go at slim about why he doesent like them.
    
    i think the song is about his inner self.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
18. anonymous

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    Oct 21st 2011 !⃝

    From what I've gathered this song is about a fan who is obsessed with him and keeps writing him letters. When eminem hasn replied Stan commits suicide(E.G. by driving his car of a bridge). He also clearly states that his pregnant girlfriend is in the boot of the car making it a murder suicide. When eminem finally writes back it is too late. I love this song it is AMAZING!!!

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