 Speaking with "Rolling Stone" in 2002, Eminem said "“Sing for the Moment” was the first song I wrote for the album; “Cleanin Out My Closet” was the second.I had the line in “Cleanin Out My Closet” — “I’d like to welcome y’all out to "The Eminem Show"” — and it was just a line, but I sat back and I was like, “My life is really like a fucking show.” I have songs on the album that I wrote when I was in that shit last year, with a possible jail sentence hangin’ over my head and all the emotions going through the divorce.I went through a lot of shit last year [lawsuits, divorce and the threat of jail time] that I resolved at the same time, all in the same year.