Samples and Interpolations
Trivia
- “Somebody Save Me” was released as the album’s third single, following “Houdini” and “Tobey,” and peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Just as the lead single “Houdini” was a throwback to Eminem’s classic humorous lead singles, “Somebody Save Me” echoes his sample-driven singles, which were often released as the third major single from their respective albums, such as “Stan,” “Sing for the Moment,” and “Like Toy Soldiers.” Like “Stan,” it also credits the sampled artist as a featured performer and includes them in the song’s video.
- The song’s intro gives the listener a peek behind the curtain during Eminem’s days of exile and drug abuse, leading up to his near-fatal overdose. The music video features visuals and home footage highlighting Eminem’s absence from his family during that same period.
Words from Jelly Roll
“Paul has always been trying to get me and Em together. He’s like, “If Marshall doesn’t understand anybody else, he’s going to get you.” And he’s been telling me this since I met him when he was working with Yelawolf a decade ago. So Paul has been that champion for me the whole way.
Paul calls and he’s like, “Send the stems to the ‘Save Me’ record.” So I’m like, “I’m fixing to get an Eminem remix,” like he’s just going to drop a verse in my lap one day — I don’t know when, and I don’t care. Whenever it comes, just thank you, God, you know.
I probably shouldn’t timestamp it too much, but this was like 18 months ago. So I get to the point [where] I don’t think it’s coming. I’m kind of just like, “Ah, it didn’t happen,” then I get the call — it’s like, “Yo, it’s going on the record, [third] single, they wanna shoot a video.”
You don’t really get to see the wizard a lot, but I’ve seen the wizard now and hung out with him — he’s a fuckin’ great guy. He’s really down to earth, super honest, and very intentional with his words. We hung out on set for 12 hours, just dickin’ around. To show you his personality, he walks into my Green Room going “Somebody shave me. I need some Gillette.” He said, “We can get you a deal there.”