"Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" is the last track on the album Loud. It is the sequel to the hit single "Love the Way You Lie", which appears on Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery. The song features American rapper Eminem, who wrote the song alongside Skylar Grey and the producer Alex da Kid.
Background[]
Following the release and commercial success of "Love the Way You Lie" in 2010, Eminem wanted to record an alternative version with Rihanna as the lead vocalist, viewing aspects of a relationship from a female perspective, unlike the original, which featured Eminem as lead vocalist and was from a male perspective. In an interview for MTV, Rihanna initially stated she was against recording a sequel: "When I first heard the idea about doing a part two, I was just completely against it. I just felt like you couldn't beat the 'original'. There's no way you can outdo that, so why compete with it?". She said when she first heard the original demo of the song in the studio with Eminem, sung by American singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, her reservations about recording it went away. While the demo was only accompanied by a piano, Rihanna and her team added drums and later vocals from Eminem.
"Love the Way You Lie" and "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" were based on a demo written and recorded in late 2009 by Grey. Grey said "I wrote the demo initially for myself because I thought, 'Oh, I have this big song, and now I have a little bit of a launching pad to put out my own stuff." Grey continued to discuss how the song was ultimately included on Loud, saying "As soon as Rihanna and her team heard my demo, they were like, 'Oh we want it for Rihanna's album,' so I had to make the decision if I was going to let them have it or not. But I did and so it was on Rihanna's album, too." The demo track by Grey, titled "Love the Way You Lie (Part III)", is on her extended play The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey, which was released on January 17, 2012.
Composition[]
The piano and drums version, which features Eminem, appears as the final song on the standard edition of Loud, while the piano version, which excludes Eminem's part in the song, appears as a bonus track on the iTunes edition of Loud. "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" is a mid-tempo song, which incorporates the musical genres of hip hop and R&B. According to sheet music published at Musicnotes, the song is written in common time with a moderate tempo of 83 beats per minute and is written in the key of G minor. Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of F3 to the high note of D5. Emily Mackay of NME commented about the vocals provided by Rihanna and Eminem in the song, stating that "There's great contrast in Part II of 'Love The Way You Lie'. With the balance of vocals neatly flipped and extra cavernous beats ramping up the drama, it wallows ever-deeper in the tortured relationship sketched out in Part I. Eminem at points is practically screaming with rage, and sounding, frankly, mental. The contrast with Rihanna's smoothly pitched pain ("Maybe I'm a masochist/Try to run but I don't wanna never leave") is delicious."
Critical reception[]
Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that "Loud works the pop gizmos as neatly as any album this year, maintaining the Rihanna brand. But the album has a hermetic, cool calculation until it gets to 'Love the Way You Lie (Part II),' her take on the tortured hit she shared with Eminem. 'It's sick that all these battles are what keeps me satisfied,' she sings. A lone piano humanizes her first vocals, and she rides the ascending power ballad to a pained resolve; then Eminem delivers new verses in a spiraling rage. It's purely theatrical, but it's also, for a moment, raw." Christopher Richards of The Washington Post said that "With 'Love the Way You Lie (Part II),' the maniac-mouthed rapper is limited to just one verse, giving Rihanna the space to take ownership of the proceedings. Will the real Rihanna please stand up? She does -- and she sounds as remote as ever." James Skinner of BBC Online viewed 'Love the Way You Lie (Part II)' as being even better than the original. He said, "Eminem's verse exuding the kind of volatile, simmering menace that got everyone so excited about him in the first place. But it is Rihanna's vocal – at once commanding, soulful and vulnerable – that anchors the song, and Loud itself, elevating it from a hit-and-miss collection into something oddly arresting."
Steve Jones of USA Today gave a mixed review of the collaboration, commenting, "Eminem puts in a cameo on 'Love the Way You Lie (Part II)', which extends, but doesn't really add, to their earlier hit about a tortured relationship from his Recovery album." Chicago Sun-Times writer Thomas Conner gave a negative review of the song, stating, "She collaborated with Eminem this summer on the controversial 'Love the Way You Lie', a song and hotly debated video conflating wild passion with crazed assault. She returns to this on Loud with "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)", an extension of the melody and the arson metaphor, in which Eminem reappears with more histrionic rapping about hating her, loving her, hitting her and hugging her. It's an unnecessary sequel that further muddies the issue: Is this a social statement, or merely an artistic expression about some truly troubled and confused people."
Chart performance[]
Both the original and the piano version of "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" were not made available to purchase individually in the majority of iTunes stores, and could only be bought along with the iTunes edition of the album. However, the song may be purchased separately as part of the album INdependent omen Volume II. It debuted on Canadian Hot 100 for the week of December 4, 2010, at number 19 and stayed on the chart for eight weeks. In South Korea, it peaked at number four on the International Chart. The song also debuted and peaked at number 160 on the UK Singles Chart due to strong digital sales upon the release of Loud.
Live performances[]
Rihanna performed a shortened version of the song as part of a medley with "What's My Name?" and "Only Girl (In the World)" at the American Music Awards of 2010 on November 21, 2010. Rihanna opened the performance singing an acappella version of "Love The Way You Lie (Part II)". She was sitting on a stylized tree hovering above a field of sable-colored blades of grass. Once she had finished the first frame of the song, she plummeted from the tree to the ground.
Rihanna and Eminem performed the song together for the first time at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on February 13, 2011 as part of a medley with "I Need a Doctor" performed by Eminem, Dr. Dre, Skylar Grey and Adam Levine from Maroon 5, who provided background vocals. The performance started with Rihanna singing on a B-stage in the middle of the audience, accompanied by Adam Levine on the keys. Eminem then appeared on the main stage to perform his part of the song, whilst Rihanna made her way from the B-stage to join him. The song then transitioned into "I Need a Doctor", where Dr. Dre emerged to join up with Skylar Grey for her debut performance. The song is also included in the encore section of Rihanna's Loud Tour, along with "Umbrella". Rihanna performed "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" at Radio 1's Hackney Weekend on May 24, 2012, as the eighth song on the set list.
Trivia[]
- The cover of "Love The Way You Lie (Part II)" looks a lot like that of "Skin", in fact it shows Rihanna in the same pose but from a diagonal point of view.
- A piano version of the song was featured as a bonus track on the iTunes version of the album, but Eminem is not featured in the piano version.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1: Rihanna]
On the first page of our story
The future seemed so bright
Then this thing turned out so evil
I don't know why I'm still surprised
Even angels have their wicked schemes
And you take that to new extremes
But you'll always be my hero
Even though you've lost your mind
[Chorus: Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well, that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie, oh
I love the way you lie
[Verse 2: Rihanna]
Now there's gravel in our voices
Glass is shattered from the fight
In this tug of war, you'll always win
Even when I'm right
'Cause you feed me fables from your head
With violent words and empty threats
And it's sick that all these battles
Are what keeps me satisfied
[Chorus: Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well, that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie, oh
I love the way you lie, oh
[Bridge: Rihanna]
So maybe I'm a masochist
I try to run, but I don't wanna ever leave
'Til the walls are going up
In smoke with all our memories
[Verse 3: Eminem]
It's morning, you wake, a sunray hits your face
Smeared makeup as we lay in the wake of destruction (Shh)
Hush baby, speak softly, tell me you're awfully sorry
That you pushed me into the coffee table last night so I can push you off me
Try and touch me so I can scream at you not to touch me
Run out the room and I'll follow you like a lost puppy
Baby, without you, I'm nothing, I'm so lost, hug me
Then tell me how ugly I am, but that you'll always love me
Then after that, shove me, in the aftermath of the
Destructive path that we're on, two psychopaths, but we
Know that no matter how many knives we put in each other's backs
That we'll have each other's backs 'cause we're that lucky
Together, we move mountains, let's not make mountains out of molehills
You hit me twice, yeah, but who's counting?
I may have hit you three times, I'm starting to lose count
But together, we'll live forever, we found the youth fountain
Our love is crazy, we're nuts, but I refused counseling
This house is too huge, if you move out, I'll burn all two thousand
Square feet of it to the ground, ain't shit you can do about it
'Cause with you, I'm in my (BLANK) mind, without you, I'm out it
[Chorus: Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well, that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie