"Mockingbird" is a rap song by Eminem and is on his album, Encore. It reached #11 in the U.S. music charts, and #4 in the UK. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance, but lost to the Kanye West hit "Gold Digger".
It is a song which tells about his relationship with his daughter Hailie Jade. It expounds on his struggles bringing his daughter up with wife Kim Mathers. The spoken words at the beginning, and the entire song, are a reassurance to Hailie, that, despite the turmoil in their personal lives, and her mother being away, and having trouble, "Everything's gonna be alright", because he is there.
The lyrics give insight into Eminem's life raising his child through Kim and his niece, Alaina, as his own daughter.
This is another example of Eminem's rap storytelling ability, previously in "Stan", except on this occasion it is non-fictional. The music video is a combination from parts of Eminem's home videos. However, all current (at the time of editing) footage of Hailie and Lainie has their faces blurred out.
"This is the only song", Eminem quoted, "that I actually cried at."
The single does not have a Parental Advisory sticker, despite the song having the word "fuck" at the end of the song ("Don't fuck with Dad"). This is probably because the word is used just at the end, while other Eminem songs that do have a Parental Advisory sticker have it used several times.
"Mockingbird" was later released on Eminem's compilation album, Curtain Call: The Hits.
This song shares its title with many other Mockingbird songs, such as with Taj Mahal, Etta James, Katie Melua and Inez and Charlie Foxx, and many others. All have the same tone and line to the original Hush Little Baby tone.
