Songfacts®:

• This is a recording of a live performance by Passenger (Mike Rosenberg) at The Borderline in London. He told VH1: "'I Hate' is one of those songs I wrote in a bad mood, about all the stuff that annoys me. But it's a lighthearted moment in an album that's quite heavy. I'm not depressed, I'm not a sad guy - I'm really quite happy most of the time, and I want to get that side of myself into the music as well."
• Rosenberg takes digs at X-Factor, Facebook, fussy eaters and even festival toilets in this song, and even says that Cher's face "looks like it's been hit by a truck." According to the singer, he was just getting out his frustrations, referring to this vitriol as "just harmless piss-taking." Rosenberg was on a bus in Australia when he wrote it, and quite uncomfortable, as it was very hot and there were crying babies onboard.