I want to talk about how good "I hate u" is. Man this song is killer! I just love everything about this song. I'm gonna put it out there and say that it is one of Prince's greatest songs. If any song proves the man's genius, it is this song. The melody, arrangement, lyrics, delivery . I f$%^in love it! Please feel free to express your love of this song.

http://prince.org/msg/7/336485

http://prince.org/msg/7/336486

I agree,this is one of Prince's best songs.I love everything about it....the production,the vocals,the guitar solo at the end,the courtroom part,and especially the lyrics!

I never thought that U would be the one
After all the things that we've been through
U gave your body to another in the name of fun
I hope U had some baby,if not,boo hoo

Brilliant!

it's painfully beautiful. n e 1 that has experienced hurt in a relationship, but have a hard time letting go, will relate to this song...it's the Prince I think many people "miss." where he speaks to matters of the heart...but, he appears to be moving to a different plane, where his values have become more "spiritual"

One of my favourite ever Prince songs.
Where does the Carmen Elektra/Tony M rumour come from? I've read that a lot on here but is there anything to it

dodger said:

Yeah,I heard that rumor too They say that Prince caught Tony and Carmen having sex,it broke his heart and he wrote "I Hate U",directed at Carmen.

Sounds like a silly rumor!

Good lord.
Maybe I should stay out of here today, if this is the stuff that's going on in here.

I Hate U "one of the greatest Prince songs"?

Yes, one of his best slow tunes.

NelsonR said:

Definatley, this song was a good remedy for a recent break-up of mine, all the lyrics related to my situation so i really love it

ButterscotchPimp said:

I really like I Hate U. Respecting your opinion and feelings, what are some of Prince's songs you consider to be his best or "greatest"? I'd like to know which songs appeal to you if you don't mind sharing. Thanks ButterscotchPimp...

A quality song and it is placed rather beautifully on the gold experience cd

SoulAlive said:

Carmen and Tony were quite friendly with each other when I used to see them at Glam Slam Minneapolis, but then again she would show up with Prince too. She new who had the $$$ though. Can't say that I ever heard that rumor.

Pfff, hardly.....good song and an all that but I honestly couldn't place it in my top50. Could do without the bird speaking at the beginning, and I'm not sure about the court address in the middle, but I'd have to give it another listen to be sure of the extent, if at all, that it irks me.

elmer said:

I love the courtroom part of this song

Close your eyes...I'm gonna cover your ass with this sheet
and I want U to pump your hips like U used 2
and baby,U better stay on the beat

classic Prince!

SoulAlive said:

Yes, I love the courtroom bit as well!

It's got a bit of everything in - that classic 95ish NPG sound, angry little guitar solo at the end, falsetto bits and bitter spoken bits ('am going to cover your ass with this sheet'). The remix is also great and takes it a bit further with lines like 'I'd pay somebody to bump you off'! Lyrics most people can relate to!

elmer said:

Not even one of his best ballads in my book. I never really liked it that much.

dodger said:

Yeah,those lyrics are really bitter! I like when Prince does songs like this....where he's playing the jilted lover.On these types of songs,he always comes up with some clever lines:

to fall in love was a table reserved for fools
Say you're sorry if you wanna but it's all in vain
I'm out the door,sweet baby,that's right,we're through

I remember in early 1995,I had a bootleg cassette of the songs that were gonna be on 'TGE'.The version of "I Hate U" was a poor sounding studio recording...I think Prince played it at a party,or during one of his '95 concerts? It wasn't even the whole song,just the second half that begins with the courtroom part.A guy in the audience can be heard saying "This sounds like "Joy In Repetition",right?" He has an accent.The Prince Family newsletter also described this song as "sounding like Joy In Repetition".


Anyway...this recording got me really excited about the song.When I finally heard the complete song,I went nuts.

This is one of the last times I can remember a proper Prince lead off single (not counting TMBGITW) being played on UK radio. I mean in the old way where it was played a few weeks before The Gold Experience was finally released and where there was a CD single. Not saying Prince releases didn't happen in the same way after this, but this is the last one I remember. Needless to say I was quite excited after hearing it. The UK CD single with the extended version and Eric Leeds sax instrumental verson is fantastic too.
[Edited 5/20/10 5:23am]

Megas1 said:

I totally agree.

It's a shame that Prince was feuding with Warners when this song was released.This could have been one of his biggest hits but he refused to promote it and didn't even release the video! It's as if he wanted the song and album to fail,just so he could blame it all on Warners.

dag said:

AMAZING ballad

so intense that it's even a little scary...and those fucked up lyrics, ...wow, brilliant, 5 stars;
a dark/rocky version of Do Me Baby for the 90s, sort of...

Norwayman said:

Agreed.

Adore
I Hate U
Damn U
Scandalous
I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore
The Beautiful Ones
Condition Of The Heart
International Lover
The Beautiful Ones

Lovely slow tunes but not his greatest songs overall.

I hate u was a great slow tune because you knew it had a reference to a particular situation and seemed almost personalised! I suppose you could relate to it a bit if you were in a certain similar situation but it was more unique to his other slow ballads because of some of the lyrics! The court room ones in particular

JoeTyler said:

I love this song. I remember hearing it on the radio a few times back in 95

JoeTyler said:

I think of this song as a darker version of "The Beautiful Ones" for the 90s.

Did anyone notice that the break in "Baby" where he sings "We'll grow stronger every day" sounds like the same one used in I Hate U?

SoulAlive said:

Yeah you're right, it's very similar to The Beautiful Ones, good point