Eminem - Space Bound Lyrics Meaning

This may be my own personal spin on Em's song, but after watching the video I feel I may have actually been close.

I think it is that love is a giant mind f***, or at least it has been for Em. After seeing the video, especially, I see it as an internal monologue, or a scenario being played out in his head. Every time he tries to get close to a woman, he has his heart ripped out, so he has (possibly subconsciously) developed a way to sabotage any feelings before they even begin to occur.

The entire song plays in two parts, with two different personalities. Separate them, and you see the two characters from Em's video. One is the guy who allows himself to fall for a girl, the other is his actual self. "We touch, I feel a rush..." and "Nobody knows me I'm cold..." would be the two personalities within the first verse. In his mind, he's playing out the start of a relationship, and then reminding himself why he shouldn't, which sets up the story told in the rest of the song (you'll see at the end), starting with his internal debate in the prechorus, where one part of him wants to find love, but the reality of it is that it's a mistake. The closing lines show that his want to find love wins out in a battle of reason, so we go to the chorus.

The second verse opens with the persona who fell in love in the process of actually falling in love "I'll do whatever it takes...", and then we see the two personas become entangled within the second half of the verse as he tries to tell himself that "once we get 'em it's never the same...", but the last line "promise me if I cave in and break and leave myself open that I won't be making a mistake" tells us that he's still open to the possibility of pursuing this figurative character.

The third verse is the ultimate scenario he has built up in his head before ever even meeting the figurative girl. The cold, calculated persona and the persona who fell in love have both been wronged and decide the ultimate fate of the "relationship". This is the end-all, be-all result of what will happen if he goes for it... In this verse the two personas are almost inseparable, as Em already has the expectation of betrayal regardless of whether or not he lets himself fall in love.

At the end of the video, it all rewinds and we come back to the opening scene where he meets the girl. Looking at the song with the approach that this was all just something he concocted, sort of a 'daydream', we can have a bit more insight into the verse "nobody knows me I'm cold, walk down this road all alone... etc." from the beginning.

Space bound rocket ship... isolated in the cold vacuum of eternity.

Beautiful song, great symbolism, awesome video.