Throughout history, celebrities have been subjected to all kinds of extreme, overzealous fans, potentially putting the lives of both the fans and artists at risk. Whether examining Julius Sandrock’s arrest after reportedly stalking Taylor Swift, Alex Gray’s burglary of Lily Allen’s home, or even John Lennon’s 1980 assassination outside his New York City apartment, it is clear that admiration can quickly escalate to intense and dangerous behaviours.
What initially began as an individual’s love for an artist turned into rage after concerts, and anger for not answering letters. Unfortunately, the supporter’s obsession led to a drastic case of murder-suicide. This fan’s story became the origin of one of the most influential and commonly used words within fandoms of all kinds: stan. Eminem’s 2000s hit “Stan”, featuring Dido off of The Marshall Mathers LP, currently has over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify and remains one of the most symbolic and significant songs in the history of horrorcore.
This song is inevitably known by many, with an iconic sample from Dido’s Thank You. The line “My tea’s gone cold, I’m wondering why I got out of bed at all” has been played thousands of times on radio stations all over the world. Mark Howard James, otherwise known as The 45 King, was the original creator of Stan. After watching the 1998 movie Sliding Doors, the artist felt inspired to sample this song and immediately headed to the studio and started recording. Through connections, the song made its way to Eminem, who heavily related to the lyrics and decided to work on the project by recounting the story of his obsessive fan.
After the release of the legendary album The Slim Shady LP, including tracks such as ‘97 Bonnie & Clyde or Guilty Conscience, fans took the lyrics seriously and misinterpreted Eminem’s intent. The 7th track was perceived as a glorification of domestic violence, as listeners focused on the lyrics referring to a father disposing of bodies when, in reality, the dark, yet psychological, metaphor was disregarded. The tune is intended to show a father-daughter relationship, where the man has only his daughter left, portraying his crime as a true bonding moment.
Other tunes, such as Guilty Conscience, caused fury within fans who believed that Eminem’s alter ego, Slim Shady, was promoting assault and crime. In fact, the song depicts the ‘evil and good’ conscience or moral senses of unethical individuals through internal monologues, ultimately coming to the conclusion that law isn’t always followed by those experiencing insanity. Though these are just two examples of misinterpretations of songs, there were many more which led to the rapper receiving countless disturbing letters from fans who took the violent lyrics seriously.
As a way to address the issue, the American rapper and songwriter decided to create a fictional character to explore the detrimental effects of obsessive fan culture. The song’s verses contain multiple letters from a fan named Stanley Mitchell, with many parallel lyrics to tracks off of the fan-considered ‘notorious’ album The Slim Shady LP. The story’s character shows serious fanatical behaviour through the lyric “If I have a daughter, guess what I’ma call her? I’ma name her Bonnie”, therefore alluding to the horrific yet poetic tune ‘97 Bonnie & Clyde. Genius contributors state, “Stan’s kinship to this song has very disturbing results later on. Naming one’s daughter after this kind of song is already hinting towards the crazed mind of Stan.”
Towards the end of the character’s narrative, a voice recording is played where car-like sound effects are heard in the background as he shares that he had just consumed an abnormal amount of alcohol. At this moment, the listener learns that Stan’s pregnant wife is located in the car, yet he feels no pity, as the only thing on the fan’s mind is how the videotape is going to make its way to the artist. Before the question is answered, the car is driven off a bridge, tragically killing all those in the vehicle.
The final verse of the story’s narrative is written from the perspective of the artist, Eminem himself, as a response to Stan. In this, the rapper brings up the issue of literal meanings behind his lyrics and shares that though he is honoured to have such passionate fans, it is not a healthy way of living: “I say that s**t just clownin’, dawg, come on, how f****d up is you?” As the song continues, Eminem continues singing about his concerns, suggesting that Stan should receive help and show greater admiration towards his girlfriend rather than to himself. As the tune comes to an end, the songwriter mentions a story on the news and elaborates on the horrific things he has done. By the time the verse ends, both the artist and the audience comprehend that, in reality, the man was actually Stan.
Since its release in the 2000s, this song has continued to have a lasting impact on all those who come across it. Rolling Stones magazine has ranked it 290th in the top 500 best songs of all time, whereas The Guardian marked it as the best Eminem work published. Its groundbreaking legacy is most explicitly seen in the term Stan [noun & verb], making its way to the Oxford Dictionary in 2017, ultimately being defined as: “an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity.”
