SZA’s latest single I Hate U started ais s a SoundCloud song and then turned into a viral TikTok trend, with fans demanding the release of the full song because… hello? NEW SZA! And Miss SZA did indeed deliver, going right to the top of the Global 100.
But what most people don’t seem to realize is what a poet SZA truly is in her songwriting. The viral TikTok sound only has short clip of lyrics, “and if you wonder if I hate you, I do” but if you look beyond the chorus, you realize this song has a much more complex message than just hatred.
Here are my top 5 favorite lyrics from this single, and the deeper meaning behind them.
“Treat me like corduroy, wear me out
Arguments, you air me out
Tripping ’bout your whereabouts
I can’t keep no conflict with you, boy, can we just rub it out?”
The material your clothing is made out of dictates how well you’ll take care of it. For example, I throw around regular cotton tops like they’re nothing, but you wouldn’t catch my silk tops being handled so carelessly. Here, SZA is saying that this boy treated her like corduroy. Corduroy is a strong, hearty material, but we don’t treat it with any special care because we know it can handle it. We “wear it out” multiple times before washing it, we just air it out if it’s dirty, if there’s a stain or a wrinkle we just “rub it out.” We probably should take better care of it, but we don’t put in the effort because we take advantage of its build. We see you SZA, you metaphorical genius.
“I’ve been up, baby
Heavy reminiscin’
Heavy on the missin’ you”
These next two lyrics are a comparison analysis, because here SZA is showing us the conflict of missing the good memories of lost love. The use of “heavy” in these lines can be interpreted as heavy as in very weighted, or heavy as a form of emphasis, and I think it’s both. The reminiscing, the remembering of all of the good times, can feel so hard to hold sometimes, because as heavy as it is, it isn’t enough to make you forget the weight of all the bad times. The heaviness of missing someone seems to be more of an emphasis, to show us that as much as she hates him, she also misses him intensely.
“I’ve been up, baby
Lost in the lie of us
Lost, ain’t no findin’ us”
While the first half focuses on the good aspects of her past relationship, this one seems to be about the bad. It’s almost as if we’re following her back-and-forth thought process; it’s very “I miss him,” “I hate him.” The word “lost” also has two contexts here just as “heavy” did. “Lost in the lie of us” seems to imply that she’s losing her perception of the past and trying to pick up the pieces, while also deciphering between what was true and what was a lie. “Lost, ain’t no findin’ us” gives us a sense of being locationally lost, as if the past version of themself that was happy and in love can no longer be found.
“Missionary gettin’ boring, can you switch positions?
Hard to save your soul, you don’t ever listen, no”
This is probably my favorite line in the whole song, you almost have to read it twice to get it. The first line saying that the missionary position is getting “boring” is a real stab at her ex, because the missionary sex position is considered very intimate. Imagine being face-to-face with someone during such a moment and saying, “this is boring.” She wants to switch to a less confronting position where she doesn’t have to think about the emotion of their relationship, because it has been lost somewhere along the way. The second line gives missionary a different definition, as in a missionary who travels to a foreign country to evangelize and spread their religious message. She’s saying that even when she does try to solve issues with him, he doesn’t listen, so there’s nothing she can do to save him. She can’t get a message through to him, as desperately as she does want to try to rescue their relationship.
“What I would do to make you feel just like this”
This final line of the chorus is important because I think it shows the most important emotion she’s feeling: that she doesn’t love him anymore and has moved on from trying to fix him. When you truly love someone, you wish well for them above your own wellbeing, and are willing to do whatever you can do bring them goodness. But SZA’s saying the opposite. She’s willing to do whatever she can to make him feel the same sense of hatred, hurt, and hopelessness that she does. And honestly, good for her! I can’t assume that she is writing based on real experience, because sometimes artists write about hypothetical situations for the sake of their music, but if this was a real situation, I wish this man nothing but a terrible existence for doing our girl wrong like this. I hope he does “feel just like this.” SZA deserves to be loved only by someone with the best of intentions.
Lastly, I’d like to share with you all some fantastic news I saw on Twitter, proving you don’t have to be single to enjoy this song! Every man deserves to be humbled just a little bit, it’s what SZA would want. Simply follow these instructions: