'She Hates Me' by Dierks Bentley – Lyrics & Meaning

It's the week of Valentine's Day and love seems to be in the air for everyone except Dierks Bentley. At least, that's according to his latest single, 'She Hates Me', a catchy ballad about loving someone who ... well, hates your guts.

Bentley has always been the titan of country breakup songs, but this new one takes the cake, possibly surpassing his middle-finger of an anthem, 'Somewhere On A Beach', from 2016, and maybe even his bleary-eyed, jilted-at-the-altar banger, 'Drunk On A Plane', from 2014.

Today, 'She Hates Me' features all the best of Bentley with a little dose of humor and some good ole self-deprecation.

Aside from its brisk synths and stadium-ready backbeats, 'She Hates Me' has a bit of a throwback feel, the sound reminiscent of the angsty Puddle of Mudd anthem from which it takes inspiration. The tune – part alt-rock, part nu-country – is bright but bitter, full of the twanged-up strings of a country hit and peppered with the hearty post-grunge grit that really drives the song's sentiment home.

She loves her mama, don't do drama, heart of gold, salt of the earth
Holds her whiskey, knows her Whitley, talkin' old school every word
She's an angel like if L.A. was a town in Tennessee
And she'd be mine except for just one little thing

In 'She Hates Me', Dierks Bentley is what the kids call "down bad." He is hung up on a woman who, on paper, is perfect. She has a good head on her shoulders, good family life, great heart. However, there's one little problem. She wants nothing to do with our dear Dierks.

In his words: "She hates me / My hair, my truck, my dog, my music makes her crazy / She done been there, done that, ain't comin' back, no maybes / Thought one day we'd be on some acres raisin' babies / She should be fallin', only problem is she hates me."

While listeners don't know the source of such disdain, what we do know is there's no coming back from these adverse feelings. Apparently, in the past, they've tried to make something work, but somewhere along the way, it all turned sour.

Now, he's left with all of these feelings and his sights set on a woman who couldn't care less. In the song, he promises that he's a likable guy, but still, she's just not interested.

He can make plans for weddings and babies and some storybook ending all he wants, but at the end of the day, she hates him. However, he doesn't seems to be getting the hint...

Yeah, we were meant to be
She don't know it yet
But just wait and see
Even though she says
She hates me

'She Hates Me' was born at a writing camp last spring when Bentley, alongside songwriters Ashley Gorley, Ross Copperman and Chase McGill, were simply messing around.

Of that moment, the artist explains, “We were goofing around with this idea before diving into our next ‘serious’ song, really just trying to make each other laugh. It just fell out, and I didn’t think much more about it after that.”

That wouldn't be the end for the song though. Bentley continues, “It really came to life in the studio, and then my kids were requesting it and then I was getting texts from friends who had heard it, so I started taking it more seriously! I love any opportunity to laugh at myself–especially my younger self, and ‘She Hates Me’ definitely provides that. I can’t wait for my fans to see the music video!”

She loves her mama, don't do drama, heart of gold, salt of the earth
Holds her whiskey, knows her Whitley, talkin' old school every word
She's an angel like if L.A. was a town in Tennessee
And she'd be mine except for just one little thing

She hates me
My hair, my truck, my dog, my music makes her crazy
She done been there, done that, ain't comin' back, no maybes
Thought one day we'd be on some acres raisin' babies
She should be fallin', only problem is she hates me

I'm pretty likable in spite of all the things she told her friends
I thought we hit it off until she called to say don't call again
I'da bet that we were headed for a set of wedding bands
There's just one little hiccup in my plans

She hates me
My hair, my truck, my dog, my music makes her crazy
She done been there, done that, ain't comin' back, no maybes
Thought one day we'd be on some acres raisin' babies
She should be fallin', only problem is she hates me

Yeah, we were meant to be
She don't know it yet
But just wait and see
Even though she says
She hates me

She hates me
My hair, my truck, my dog, my music makes her crazy
She done been there, done that, ain't comin' back, no maybes
Thought one day we'd be on some acres raisin' babies
She should be fallin', only problem is she hates me

She hates me
She hates me

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