Today, Eminem gifted his fans a 38-track expanded edition of his blockbuster 2002 fourth album, The Eminem Show, in honor of the LP’s 20th anniversary. The set includes the never-before-heard demo “Jimmy, Brian and Mike,” which immediately climbed into the Top 10 on Genius’ Top Songs chart.
Eminem originally recorded “Jimmy, Brian and Mike” for his third album, The Marshall Mathers LP, before scrapping the track in its early stages. When it came time to put together the anniversary edition of The Eminem Show, the Detroit MC decided to finish what he started.
“A couple months ago for this EXPANDED EDITION release Em went back to the lab, recalled the sessions, finished the chorus and put the touches on it so that it could be included in the Bonus Tracks added to the album,” Eminem’s longtime manager Paul Rosenberg said of the updated version. “Please sit back and enjoy the show.”
Produced by Em, Mike Elizondo and Dr. Dre, “Jimmy, Brian and Mike” tells the story of three friends who continually test the limits of their drug and alcohol consumption while at a raging party at Jimmy’s mom’s house. The verses are from the perspective of Jimmy, who makes clear in the opening lines that he will do pretty much anything to get high. That includes consuming bleach, huffing markers, and inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon.
Markers, paint, inhale, faint
Yeah, heh, heh, smells great, heh (Whoa)
Acid, you don’t got that? Just melt plastic
That’s it, now let it smoke and smell that shit
Jimmy seems to know what’s at stake if he keeps doing drugs at his rate—but that doesn’t really stop him.
I might just suck nitrous all night long
If I just die, Mike, just call my mom (9-1-1)
Their wild night takes a dark turn by the end of the verse, when a fourth friend, Jeff, gets crushed under some workout weights in the basement.
“Dude, I’m in the basement with Jeff
He just dropped a bunch of weights on his chest
Help me get ’em off,” wait, you’re breakin’ his neck (Alright)
You grab that end, dick, I’ll grab this end
On the chorus—one of the 2022 additions to the song—Eminem takes the perspective of someone other than Jimmy, Brian, or Mike. It could be Greg, Jason, or Jeff—all friends mentioned in the first verse—or someone else entirely. Either way, the person shares largely the same attitudes as the titular characters about drugs and alcohol.
Get me drunk, let me go and get me high tonight
Jimmy, don’t, Jimmy don’t let me die tonight
Get me home, Jimmy, don’t let me drive tonight
I just wanna get blown with Brian and Mike
Jimmy starts off the second verse by recounting how much alcohol he’s consumed over the course of the night.
Nineteen shots might seem like a lot, but it’s not
I ain’t even buzzin’, man, I swear to God
The party starts to spiral out of control later in the verse, and Jimmy worries his neighbor might intervene.
Tom, stop, you’re gonna scare the dog
He’s gonna bark and Mr. Johnson’s gonna come downstairs, and, ugh
“Hey, I want some peace and quiet here
Or I’ma send the goddamn police in riot gear”
By the end of the verse, Jimmy’s mom’s house is in complete disarray. His furniture has been moved around, they’re out of toilet paper in the bathroom, and Jimmy is losing patience. Finally, he has no choice but to put a stop to the fun.
Party’s over, everybody get your asses out
Out, I said out, put the beer down, out
The expanded edition of The Eminem Show arrives today and features more than a dozen previously unreleased instrumentals, demos, live performances, and freestyles. You can check out the album’s full tracklist and read all the lyrics to “Jimmy, Brian and Mike” on Genius now.
