Songfacts®:

• "I Got The…" is a moody, introspective song where Labi Siffre lays his heart bare, pouring out his sadness and vulnerability. He admits to depending on his partner to yank him back up whenever his spirits sink too low.
• Siffre wrote "I Got The..." solo. By 1975 when it was released, Siffre had been in a relationship with his partner Peter Lloyd for over a decade. They were together from 1964 until Lloyd's death in 2013. But you'd be hard-pressed to find any direct reference to this relationship in the song. Rather, Siffre left the autobiographical detail to the imagination, and the music to the feeling.
• The song has a rich, soulful sound - deep and resonant. It was co-produced by session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan and producer Derek Lawrence, who wrapped Siffre's plaintive lyrics in a velvety blanket of blues and groove.
• Siffre played the electric piano, and Big Jim Sullivan the lead guitar. The other musicians are:
  
  Chas Hodges: electric guitar, backing vocals
  Dave Peacock: bass guitar, backing vocals
  Ian Wallace: drums
  The Dean Street Brass: horns
  The Rock And Roll Gypsies: strings
  
  Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock would later become notable in their own right as the pop-rock duo Chas & Dave.
• "I Got You" is the opening track of Siffre's fifth album, Remember My Song. Released in 1975, the LP failed to chart.
• "I Got The..." is mostly recognized these days as the song Eminem sampled in his breakthrough hit "My Name Is." This exposure introduced Siffre's work to a new generation, leading to the song being released as a single in 2003.
  
  Siffre had some conditions for clearing the sample. He insisted that all sexist and homophobic lines be removed from the lyric, unaware that Eminem could release both "clean" and "uncut" versions anyway. "Had I known something about rap, I would have said on any of the versions," he later lamented to Mojo magazine.
• Eminem wasn't the first rapper to sample "I Got The..." Jay-Z borrowed multiple elements for his 1997 song "Streets Is Watching" from his album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.
• Joss Stone covered "I Got The..." for her 2012 album The Soul Sessions Vol. 2. Her version maintained the iconic keyboard riff that is a significant part of the original track. "I promise I won't rap, I promise. But it's so tempting!" she quipped, evidently feeling the pull of that captivating groove.
• The song shows up in the 2020 Better Call Saul episode, "Bagman."