It ain’t easy being awesome, and that comes part and parcel with a few haters who just can’t understand your innate awesomeness.
So whenever you feel like the haters and bullies are getting to you, give some of these songs a listen to uplift your mood. We’re sure that at the end of this playlist, you’ll realize that all those people don’t really matter at all!
Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
Taylor Swift has a ton of experience with haters, so it’s only fitting that we chose her famous anti-haters song to start off our list. In this song, she expresses dismay at how she’s always criticized for every little thing she does. But instead of changing who she is to please her haters, she just shakes off the haters’ comments and does her own thing.
Anti-hater lyrics: Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
Wheatus – Teenage Dirtbag
This iconic early 2000s song has always been a fan favorite of misfits and underdogs. The song is about a protagonist who has a crush on a popular girl. Sadly, the popular girl is dating a jock, who’s also likely to beat the protagonist up for any perceived slight. But as it turns out, the girl he likes is as much of a misfit as he is. Win-win!
Anti-hater lyrics: Her boyfriend’s a dick
And he brings a gun to school
And he’d simply kick
My ass if he knew the truth
He lives on my block
And he drives an Iroc
But he doesn’t know who I am
And he doesn’t give a damn about me
All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell
The All-American Rejects has spoken about who this song is about. According to Tyson Ritter, it’s about all those people who give you a hard time in life – whether it’s your asshole of a boss or some power-tripping teacher at school. It’s a melodic and subtle way of giving them the finger.
Anti-hater lyrics: Now you’ll never see
What you’ve done to me
You can take back your memories
They’re no good to me
And here’s all your lies
You can look me in the eyes
With the sad, sad look
That you wear so well
Shinedown – Bully
This fantastic anti-bullying song tells a poignant message to all the bullies everywhere – We don’t have to take this back against the wall. Shinedown’s anti-bullying song is addressed to bullies who enjoy picking on other people. And it’s a reminder that if they keep up their hateful ways, no one will be sorry when they’re gone.
Anti-hater lyrics: We don’t have to take this back against the wall
We don’t have to take this we can end it all
All you’ll ever be is a fading memory of a bully
Make another joke while they hang another rope so lonely
Push them to the dirt till the words don’t hurt can you hear me
No one’s gonna cry on the very day you die you’re a bully
Rihanna feat. Dwayne Husbands – Dem Haters
The world is full of people who will use you and manipulate you, and RiRi isn’t new to this. So she created this song for all the people who need reminding that haters shouldn’t have a place in your life. In this song, she mentions people who use others, bring others down, or smile to your face while stabbing you in the back. And just like Rihanna says, you have to get them haters out your circle.
Anti-hater lyrics: Get dem haters out your circle
Smile in your face but all they wanna do is bring ya down, down
See them try to mess to hurt you and work you
Anything to bring ya down, down
A Day to Remember – All Signs Point to Lauderdale
Sometimes people who hate on you are the ones whom you thought you could count on. But this song tells us that sometimes the people who we give our all to are the ones who end up dragging us down. While this song isn’t exactly about haters, it is about the people who hold us back from achieving greater things. This song in particular holds a special meaning for the band because they know a lot of people from their city of Fort Lauderdale who didn’t believe in them.
Anti-hater lyrics: I hate this town
Cause no one can understand
I just can’t be tied down
Nothing comes between me and my plans
So now I never know the things to say to you
That help me prove that I’m still on your side
I never show just what you do to me
Guess I’m what’s always wrong
Four Year Strong – Unbreakable
Why give another thought to the bullies and the haters when we can feature a song that empowers everyone they’re trampled on? Unbreakable is one of this punk band’s most inspirational tracks. It’s dedicated to all the people who feel like losers and rejects, urging them to come together to stand their ground. After all, who would bully all these people when they refuse to back down to their haters?
Anti-hater lyrics: We are the ones that stand our ground
We are the ones that won’t back down
We are the rise but not the fall
We are the writing on the wall
We are unbreakable
Pearl Jam – Jeremy
While it’s an extreme case, we simply can’t create a playlist about horrible people without this cautionary tale of revenge. The titular Jeremy was picked on in school and ignored at home. He was bullied and misunderstood, and the only way he could think of to fix his situation was to shoot himself in front of his classmates. Jeremy was inspired by real events that took place in Texas in 1991.
Anti-hater lyrics: Seemed a harmless little fuck
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recessed lady’s breast
How could I forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting
Meredith Brooks – Bitch
A great man once said that when people hurl insults at you, you might as well own them and wear them as an armor so no one can hurt you with them. Meredith Brooks was able to do that with this song about the many labels she has been called. She wears them all with pride as a way to deflect her haters. Way to go!
Anti-hater lyrics: I’m a bitch, I’m a lover
I’m a child, I’m a mother
I’m a sinner, I’m a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I’m your hell, I’m your dream
I’m nothing in between
You know you wouldn’t want it any other way
Matchbox Twenty – She’s So Mean
What would you do if the person you hate is the same person you’re inexplicably attracted to? Matchbox Twenty certainly sure knows what that’s like as evidenced by this song. In She’s So Mean a protagonist is dating a borderline abusive girl who tramples all over him. But she’s just so attractive to him that he can’t help but just put up with it all.
Anti-hater lyrics: She’s got a wicked sense of humor, can’t believe what she says
She drinks Bacardi in the morning till it goes to her head
And all you want is just to hold her, but she don’t go for that
She has a hard time coming when she can’t hit back
Kanye West – Runaway
Ah, Kanye. You simply can’t have a complete list without at least one entry from this rapper who’s a pro at handling haters. But instead of fighting back, Kanye raises a toast to all the douchebags, critics, and ex-girlfriends – all the people in his life who only want to focus on Kanye’s bad side without seeing his genuine talent.
Anti-hater lyrics: And I always find, yeah, I always find something wrong
You been putting up with my shit just way too long
I’m so gifted at finding what I don’t like the most
So I think it’s time for us to have a toast
Let’s have a toast for the douchebags
Let’s have a toast for the assholes
Let’s have a toast for the scumbags
Every one of them that I know
Let’s have a toast for the jerk-offs
That’ll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can
Florence and the Machine – Shake It Out
From the album Ceremonials, which is said to be Florence’s way of exorcising all the negativity in her life, comes this wonderfully catchy song. While there’s no figure in the song whom she addresses the song to, it’s a general message to herself that there’s just no pleasing some people. So what does she do? She shakes all of her demons off!
Anti-hater lyrics: And I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t
So here’s to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I’m ready to suffer and I’m ready to hope
It’s a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat
‘Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Well what the hell I’m gonna let it happen to me, yeah
Lily Allen – Fuck You
What’s worse than a hater? A small-minded person who spreads hate everywhere they go. In this song, Lily Allen didn’t just choose any old person whom she’d like to direct her scorn; her inspiration for this song is no other than George W. Bush, whose war on terror and ultra-conservative stance against the LGBTQ community has ruined countless lives and instilled hate in so many people.
Anti-hater lyrics: Look inside
Look inside your tiny mind
Now look a bit harder
‘Cause we’re so uninspired
So sick and tired of all the hatred you harbor
Christina Aguilera – Fighter
Do you know the worst thing you can do to a hater? It’s not fighting against them or getting revenge. It’s thanking them for making you a much stronger, better person. This is exactly what Fighter is all about – thanking an abusive person for the experience and coming out a fighter.
Anti-hater lyrics: ‘Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter
Weezer – Pork and Beans
At the top of our list is this celebration of individuality. Pork and Beans was inspired by executives telling the band to create more commercial material. And since the band is known and loved for their more unconventional music, they fought back against the people who wanted them to conform by creating the ultimate non-conformist song. Oh, and as a bonus, watch the official music video to get a heaping dose of early 90s nostalgia!
Anti-hater lyrics: I’ma do the things that I wanna do
I ain’t got a thing to prove to you
I’ll eat my candy with the pork and beans
Excuse my manners if I make a scene
I ain’t gonna wear the clothes that you like
I’m fine and dandy with the me inside
One look in the mirror and I’m tickled pink
I don’t give a hoot about what you think
