"I Hate U" (also spelled "Eye Hate U" to reflect the pictograph in the published title) is a song by American musician Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. The track was the lead single in support of the album, released on September 12, 1995. "I Hate U" was nearly a solo effort from Prince, although he credited Minneapolis musician Ricky Peterson with co-production and arranging, as well as providing additional keyboards.
Beginning with crashing drums, the "NPG Operator" welcomes the listener to "The Hate Experience" (which Prince would later entitle the song's maxi-single), before leading into the first verse where Prince sings in delicate falsetto about a cheating woman, whom he hates "like a day without sunshine". A church-like organ moves the song along, while a musical segment borrowed from "Baby" (a track from his 1978 album For You) provides breaks throughout the track. After the second verse and chorus, the song enters a lengthy middle section which is sung/spoken in Prince's normal voice. This section is a "courtroom drama" where Prince submits his evidence of his cheating lover to a judge. When he asks the woman to state her name for the court, he interrupts her with a vocal reference from the album's previous track — "Billy Jack Bitch". Toward the end of the drama, he states that being without her is killing him emotionally and that he actually still loves her. After a final chorus, again using an impassioned falsetto, Prince launches into a brief but effective guitar solo which climaxes and ends the song.
When you see it coming
The shit runs down your leg
A rumble of disaster
It's much too late to beg
You didn't heed its warning
As it's parked on top of your house
Your baby's crushed to pulp
You're cornered you cry out
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
Its treads are stained with blood
Of victims who had pride
Some thought they'd defy it
All of them have died
Destruction in its wake
The mangled corpses rot
If you think you'll survive... NOT!
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
Here it comes, you better start running
Here it comes, you better start running
The armored shell coroded
From blood that now is dry
Markings left to signify
The deaths of many lives
Through many years of silence
Breaks a horrifying sound
You turn to look in disbelief
He's come to hunt you down
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank
The Hate Tank