Walk on Water (Eminem Song)

Walk on water
feat. Beyoncé
publication	November 10, 2017
length	5:03
Genre (s)	Hip hop
text	M. Mathers , H. Hafermann
music	Rick Rubin , Skylar Gray (Co)
album	revival

Walk on Water ( English for " to run over water ") is a song by the American rapper Eminem , in which the chorus is sung by the singer Beyoncé . The song is the first single from his ninth studio album Revival and was released on November 10, 2017.

Background and Marketing

The beginning of the song creation is the chorus, which was written by the singer Skylar Gray . When Eminem heard this, he was thrilled and decided to add rap verses to it. Producer Rick Rubin played the song to rapper Jay-Z , who in turn persuaded his wife Beyoncé to sing the chorus instead of Skylar Gray. Skylar Gray herself described the song as a piece that she tried to write since childhood and that she was most proud of.

On November 8, 2017, Eminem published a picture of an alleged doctor's prescription on Twitter with the words "Walk on Water" - Take as needed to announce the single. The picture also had the lettering of the associated album Revival .

content

The song is kept calm and has a profound text in which Eminem deals with the high demands the fans place on him and his music. This is already clear in the chorus, where it says: " I walk on the water, but only when it freezes, because I am not Jesus ".

In the first verse, Eminem wonders why the expectations of him are so high and whether it is because his previous albums set the bar too high. He is under enormous pressure and it does not matter which music he is releasing today, as it is being criticized and compared with his previous works anyway. The rapper continues these thoughts in the second verse. He himself is the greatest critic of his music and, as a perfectionist, is always looking for the best rhyme. Often he would not be satisfied with his music either. Eminem cannot understand that some children see him as God and counts Nas , Rakim , Tupac , The Notorious BIG , LL Cool J and Prince artists who, in his opinion, are better than him. In the third verse he admits mistakes and mentions critics who think he is rapping or shouting too quickly. Eminem is reminiscent of the past, when each of his songs was celebrated, while today it is sometimes viewed with derision. But in the end, the only one who looks down on him is his deceased friend Proof . The successful past is slowly fading and his sales figures are also falling, but he doesn't want to complain and decide for himself when to end his career. In the outro of the song the beat changes abruptly and Eminem describes himself as "godlike" as long as he has a microphone, referring to his hit Stan .

production

The beat of the song was produced by the American music producer Rick Rubin in collaboration with Skylar Gray, who acted as co-producer and also wrote the chorus.

Music video

On December 14, 2017, a lyric video was released on Eminem's official YouTube channel. A real music video followed on December 23, 2017 exclusively via Apple Music and one day later also on YouTube. It was shot by Rich Lee.

Eminem initially raps sitting in a chair in the dark on the stage of an empty concert hall. Then he goes to the microphone, the light goes on and you can see in fast motion how the stage is being set up and dismantled, as well as spectators entering and leaving the hall. In between you can see Eminem writing his texts in multiple versions on a typewriter, throwing the sheets away again and again. Towards the end it starts to snow and the stage turns into a frozen body of water. Eminem walks across the ice through the blizzard, seeing himself trapped under the ice. He finally comes to a large object covered by a tarpaulin and pulls the cover down. However, the viewer remains in the dark about what is under the tarpaulin.

Live performances

Eminem appeared with Walk on Water at the MTV Europe Music Awards on November 12, 2017 and on Saturday Night Live on November 18, 2017 . He was accompanied by the singer Skylar Gray, who replaced Beyoncé. On December 14, 2017, Eminem performed again with Skylar Gray on BBC Radio 1 , playing Walk on Water and four older songs live.

single

Cover design

The single cover shows the white lettering Walk on Water in the middle , which floats on blue water. In the black and white background you can see a cheering crowd, half of which is under water.

Chart successes

Walk on Water entered the German charts at number 16 on November 17, 2017 and stayed in the top 100 for four weeks. The song was more successful in Switzerland, where it was ranked 5th.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	16 (4 weeks)	4th
Austria (Ö3)	13 (4 weeks)	4th
Switzerland (IFPI)	5 (10 weeks)	10
United Kingdom (OCC)	7th (9 weeks)	9
United States (Billboard)	14th (5 weeks)	5

Awards

Walk on Water received a Silver Record for more than 200,000 units sold in the UK in 2018 .

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Italy (FIMI)	gold	25,000
Canada (MC)	platinum	80,000
Sweden (IFPI)	gold	20,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver	200,000
All in all	1 × silver 2 × gold 1 × platinum	325,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

Web links

• Lyrics with interpretations (English)
• Lyrics (German)
• Music video on YouTube.com

swell

1. ↑ Background to Walk on Water (Podcast) ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Skylar Gray to Walk on Water
3. ^ Marshall Mathers: "Walk on Water" - Take as needed. In: twitter.com. November 8, 2017, accessed November 27, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Lyrics
5. ↑ Poetry video
6. ↑ music video
7. ↑ Eminem Is Performing a New Song at the 2017 EMA. In: mtvema.com. November 8, 2017, accessed November 27, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Michael Saponara: 5 Things We Want to See from Eminem on 'Saturday Night Live'. In: billboard.com. November 18, 2017, accessed November 27, 2017 . 
9. ^ Watch Eminem Performs His Classics For BBC Radio 1. In: rap-up.com. December 14, 2017, accessed December 15, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Single cover
11. ↑ Chart following Walk on Water on officialcharts.de
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
13. ↑ UK: silver