What is the meaning behind “But fuck it, life’s handin’ you lemons? Make lemonade then!”? Rap God by Eminem
- by imrk
- March 25, 2023
The phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” was coined in a 1915 obituary for Marshall Pinckney Wilder. In the obituary, author Elbert Hubbard wrote: He was a walking refutation of that dogmatic statement, Mens sana in corpore sano. His was a sound mind in an unsound body. He proved the eternal paradox of things. He cashed in on his disabilities. He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand. The proverb means to encourage someone, incentivize and motivate someone to work with what you have. Eminem’s “lemons” is the criticism he took over his career, but he “made lemonade” with what he had and turned it into one of the most acclaimed careers in rap today. This line is interesting, considering Eminem admitted to not using lemons to make lemonade on 2011’s “Loud Noises:” Life handed me lemons, I jumped back in the public eye And squirted lemon juice in it by now you just wish I’d fuckin' die