Released February 12, 1998 Recorded 1997 | Format CD single | |
Length 4:20 ("Just the Two of Us")5:16 ("'97 Bonnie & Clyde") | ||
"'97 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song by American rapper Eminem. The song appears on the Slim Shady EP (as "Just the Two of Us") & The Slim Shady LP. Eminem recorded a prequel for The Marshall Mathers LP, "Kim". The song is covered by Tori Amos on her 2001 album of gender-swapped covers, Strange Little Girls.
Contents
Background
The song features Eminem killing his ex-wife, Kim Mathers, and dumping her corpse in the ocean with the help of his then-infant daughter Hailie. The sounds played at the beginning of the song, including the jingling of keys and the slamming of a car door, imply that Eminem put Kim's body in the trunk of his car. These are the same sounds played at the end of the song "Kim" by Eminem. In "Kim", the lines immediately before the sounds are heard. Eminem got the idea to write this song at a time when Kim was stopping him from seeing his daughter.
Critical response
AllMusic highlighted and praised the song: "notorious track where he imagines killing his wife and then disposing of the body with his baby daughter in tow" and critic noted that this song is connected with Eminem's life struggles. Steve 'Flash' Juon called the remix bad and he continued: "the new one (remix version) is lifeless and oddly out of place among an album full of mostly dope cuts." Rob Sheffield wrote: "the wife-killing jokes of "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" aren't any funnier than Garth Brooks'." Entertainment Weekly wrote a positive opinion: "In the album's funniest slice of black humor, a smart-ass parody of Will Smith's unctuous Just the Two of Us called 97' Bonnie & Clyde, Eminem and his baby daughter take a pleasant drive to a lake — into which he tosses the dead body of the child's mother. Sending up the gooey sentiments and pop melody of the Smith hit, Eminem raps: Mama said she wants to show you how far she can float/And don't worry about that little boo-boo on her throat."