Hatin' Somebody

Album: Skeletons (2020)
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Songfacts®:

  • Over swampy grooves and slide guitars, the Brothers Osborne share a message about putting prejudice aside. The siblings note during the feel-good bluesy jam that people on opposite sides of the fence can put aside their differences and coexist.

    Hatin' somebody ain't never got nobody nowhere
    It's a bad seed to sow
    It's a dead-end road
    When you go there
    Makin' any headway that way
    Ain't got no prayer


    The Brothers Osborne are saying that choosing hate over love is pointless, has no benefit, and only leads to ruin.
  • John and TJ Osborne wrote the song with Casey Beathard. "It was an idea that Casey brought to us," TJ recalled, "and we instantly were like, 'Man, I just love what that says.'"

    "And everyone's been guilty of doing some hatin'. I have," he added. "And it's a song that, it's fun to sing for people to kinda just remind them, but also to remind myself."
  • The duo tie-in a family connection during the second verse, when they reference their onetime "stubborn hillbilly" grandfather.

    A stubborn hillbilly in the middle of the city
    Learning how not to throw stones


    John and TJ's grandad had to adjust to a different way of life when he changed his surroundings to the big city.

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