HATING THE HATERS
Written & Produced by Andras Jones
Engineered by Fernando Perdomo
Hating the haters won’t make you a lover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Throw love away, it’s hard to recover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Here’s to the lovers that we’re s’posed to hate
for asking tough questions and not taking the bait
Guy on the radio convinced my mother
Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma
something I read made me some kind of other
Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma
I hear you say, “That’s what the radio does”
but you might be surprised by what channel it was
Do you wanna hear my conspiracy theory?
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Na-Na-Na-Na
People who use terms like conspiracy theory
Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, Na-Na-Na-Na
are part of the biggest conspiracy that there is
Shutting down conversations that are bad for biz
Hating the haters won’t make you a lover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Throw love away, and you may discover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
that the lovers that you were convinced to hate
were the ones trying to make America…smart
Hating the haters won’t make you a lover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Hating the haters won’t make you a lover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Hating the haters won’t make you a lover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Hating the haters won’t make you a lover
La-La-La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La
Andras Jones – Vocals & Guitars
Fernando Perdomo – Drums, Bass, Organ, Lead Guitar & Percussion
————————————————————————————
Losing friends over politics seems like such a counter-productive waste. It’s been happening a lot, especially in the last decade. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten used to it. It can really get me down but blaming people for things they are manipulated into doing by forces outside of their control is an impulse I do my best to keep at bay. I wish I could encourage so many of my deeply partisan friends who think they are the “good people” screaming at the “bad people” to recognize the inherent contradiction in their actions, especially when I am the target of their misdirected hostility.
Did I write this song for/to these people? Probably, but I produced it (which took a lot longer and cost a lot more money) for the people who have likewise lost friends and loved ones and family members. Why? Because of a weaponization of partisanship that is tearing us apart as individuals and communities and making honest conversations among critical thinking people of diverse perspectives difficult for some, impossible for others.
This song came really fast, as part of a one night songwriting project I was invited to participate in by my old friend Ethan Gold (who plays keys on “Mystery Behind” from my Complicated ’00 EP) . The prompt was to write a song based upon: COMPASSION.
It took 15 minutes to write, and another two and half months to record with the brilliant Fernando Perdomo who played drums, bass, lead guitar, organ & percussion. Fernando could have and basically did all that in one session back in April. I, on the other hand, spent months doing my Harry Nilsson man-of-a-thousand-voices bit and moving things around in the track until it felt the way I want a song like this to feel. I want it to wake up the pain, make you laugh a little and, I hope, give you a sense of solidarity that keeps you from wanting to kill yourself when your closest friends treat you like the enemy over propaganda about something they refuse to even try to understand your point of view on.
Here’s how it all started:
I had hoped to have a cello on the bridge part about “conspiracy theory”, but the next verse, where I sing about not hating the people trying to make America smart, freaked out the cellist. They misinterpreted it as being pro-Trump.
As often happens, these kinds of breakdowns open up new possibilities. I think what we ended up with is probably better and certainly more unique than what I had initially hoped for (though maybe a little less beautiful). I expect other people will make the same mistake of perceiving that line as being pro-Trump. If they do, I guess I should own that even though that’s not my intention, I am unwilling to amend myself to avoid this misinterpretation. I’ll just say this, if you think Trump is making America smart, you and I do not see things the same way. Just like, if you think people who voted for Trump are the problem, as opposed to the party of Democrats’ unwillingness to allow Democratic voters to ever choose their preferred candidate, then you and I also disagree.
And that’s why I keep losing friends over politics. I hope this track helps me make a few new ones.