Rocktober '00s Song #14: "She Hates Me" by Puddle of Mudd (2001)

Kansas City's nu metal/post grunge rockers Puddle of Mudd formed in the early '90s and got their break in the early '00s with their major label debut album Come Clean, released in 2001.  The album went to #9 on the Billboard album chart and eventually went triple platinum in the U.S.  It featured four songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, all four of which were also Top 3 songs on both the Billboard Alternative Rock Tracks chart and Mainstream Rock Tracks chart:  "Control" (#68, #3, #3), "Blurry" (#5, #1, #1), "Drift and Die" (#61, #3, #1), and "She Hates Me" (#13, #2, #1).

While I do enjoy "Drift and Die," "She Hates Me" is my favorite of the bunch.  It's a post-grunge, self-loathing masterpiece, inspired by guitarist Jimmy Allen's then-recent breakup and his ex-girlfriend's related anger.  Anyone who has been dumped or dumped someone else can relate, and the the song became a big hit despite the fact that its most prominent lyric is "she fucking hates me," with the f-bomb and other swear words in the song merely muted on the radio and video version of the song, rather than trying to ruin the song by making alternate, radio-friendly lyrics.

The song is a great anthem and a karaoke contender for anyone who has the pipes to belt it out.  Not only was it a Top 15 hit in the U.S., but it also reached the Top 10 on the pop charts in Australia, Austria, Ireland, and Scotland.