Go To Sleep by Eminem

Go To Sleep is a capricious tale about a frustrated father trying to get his child to go to sleep.

Marshall Mathers is awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of his young child making a fuss. He enters to the room to find the child awake and unable to sleep. He urges the child to lie back down, but he won’t. Marshal tries several techniques to get the child to go to sleep, but they are all ineffective.

As the minutes turn to hours, Marshall becomes cranky at his child’s unwillingness to fall asleep. “How many times I gotta’ say close your eyes?” He’s determined though, and says that he isn’t going to eat or sleep until he can convince the child to sleep.

Marshall’s friend D12 tries to help console the child. Marshall thanks him for the support, but says that he doesn’t need help. Marshall tries to placate the child, but he continues to demand things.
At one point he asks to be picked up and held. Marshall loses his temper and says “Ugh, time’s up bitch. Close your eyes.”

The child begins to cry. Marshal attempts to console him, but the damage is done. The child has associated his insomnia with his father’s anger, internalizing the problem and making it difficult for him to sleep for his entire adult life.

Works Cited:

Eminem. Go To Sleep.: Def Jam, 2003.