"When I'm Gone" is a song from Eminem's 2005 Curtain Call: The Hits greatest hits album, and one of the most critically acclaimed songs of his to-date. The song is about Eminem's career's effect on his relationship with his wife Kim. It talks about him not being there for his daughter, Hailie, and (in a sort of metaphoric "dream") Hailie confronts him at a concert in Sweden and demands to know why he was so cruel towards Kim (his ex-wife). She ends the confrontation by telling Eminem that he loves his fame, career, and fans more than his own family. After she leaves, Eminem turns around and sees a gun. He picks it up, screams "Die Shady!" and shoots his Slim Shady alter-ego. After that, he wakes up, realizing that it was only a dream. It's spring, Hailie's playing in the yard, and he kisses Kim.
Furthermore, this is a continuation of Marshall's difficulty coping with fame and his dark alter ego, Slim Shady ("When I'm gone just carry on, don't mourn"). "When I'm Gone" is a progression of this dilemma: where does Marshall end, and Shady begin? Who is the dominant alter ego and how does this figure into Eminem the artist and family man? The end of Eminem's dream where Shady shoots himself is similar to the ending of the song "Encore/Curtains Down" off of his album Encore, in which Shady leaves the stage but then comes back, shoots the crowd and then sticks the gun in his mouth and shoots himself (in the Clean version the song fades out before the shooting part ends).
The single was released officially in the United States on the 6 December, 2005. It was released in Australia on January, 2006.
Tarick Salmaci, (from the TV show The Contender) makes an appearance in the video with his wife.
Whitney Scott, Kim Mathers's daughter had by another man in the period in which she and Eminem were divorced, appears in the video to the song, she's the youngest baby girl on the swing.
"When I'm Gone" is a hit single from 3 Doors Down's second album, Away from the Sun. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 2003.
