I Hate Everything About You

"I Hate Everything About You"
Single by Three Days Grace
from the album Three Days Grace
B-side	"Burn" "Are You Ready"
Released	April 28, 2003 (2003-04-28)
Studio	Long View Farm (North Brookfield, Massachusetts) Bearsville (Woodstock, New York) Vespa, A Room Full of Stuff (Toronto, Ontario)
Genre	Post-grunge[1][2] alternative metal[3] nu metal[4]
Length	3:51
Label	Jive
Songwriter	Adam Gontier
Producer	Gavin Brown
Three Days Grace singles chronology
"I Hate Everything About You" (2003) "Just Like You" (2004)
Music video
"I Hate Everything About You" on YouTube

"I Hate Everything About You" is a song by the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace from their first album Three Days Grace. The song was released on April 28, 2003, as their debut single.[5] One of the band's signature songs, the song peaked at number one on the Canadian rock chart. The song also peaked at number 55 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was the ninth-best-performing song of the decade on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.[6] Despite not being one of their number-one hits on either of the two charts, it is the band's longest-running song on both the Modern Rock Tracks chart, at 45 weeks,[7] and the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, at 46 weeks. In June 2025, the song passed one billion streams on Spotify, making Three Days Grace the second Canadian band to have a song achieve this milestone, after Magic! with their 2013 song "Rude".[8]

Written by Three Days Grace lead vocalist Adam Gontier and produced by Gavin Brown, the theme of "I Hate Everything About You" deals with love–hate relationships.[9] Gontier said of the track:

The song is pretty blunt you know? It's to the point. It's about realizing there's something in your life you're wasting time on. I think everybody, even in this band and a lot of other people have felt that way before at one point or another in their life. Whether it's a person, a relationship whatever it is, you're just wasting time on it. The song is a realization of that.[10]

The song is also about dependence and negative influences, as Gontier stated in a 2006 interview with the Arkansas Times:

At that point in my life, and our lives, it was representative of us. It's funny, different people relate to that song on their own levels and own ways. A lot of people saw it as a relationship song, and a lot of people saw it just basically that there is something in your life that you don't need there anymore.[11]

Brown and the band created a demo album, which they gave to EMIMusic Publishing Canada. The record label wanted to hear more material, and with Brown producing, the band created the song "I Hate Everything About You", which attracted the interest of several record labels.[9] Jive Records' Michael Tedesco brought the track to Warren Christensen at management company Q Prime, which ultimately led to the group signing with the label. Christensen recalled thinking that the song was "perfect for rock radio."[12]

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, by Alfred Music Publishing, the track runs at 168 BPM and is in the key of F minor.[13] Gontier's range in the song spans from the notes C#4 to B5.[13]

Guitar World described the track as "brawny [and] brooding".[14] According to Houston Press, the song "basically goes just like it sounds: angsty, whiny, and angsty again."[15]

The band recorded two guitar parts for the song, the main guitar part and intro riff. The opening riff was recorded on a Yamaha acoustic through an Amp Farm and the group liked the way it sounded with the acoustic guitar and ended up using it on the final production.[16]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]

"I Hate Everything About You" was met with positive reviews from music critics. Heather Phares of AllMusic called the song "one of the better alt-metal/modern rock singles in recent memory".[3] She stated, "At first, the song seems almost stupidly simple, both lyrically and musically. However, the controlled fury of the choruses and the ambivalent verses make the song a surprisingly smart and concise anthem for anyone stuck in a baffling relationship."[3] She also added, "I Hate Everything About You's frustrated explosions and passive-aggressive recriminations eerily simulate the trajectory of an ill-fated couple."[3] Dave Doray of IGN praised the guitar licks that complement with Gontier's vocals.[18] Kaj Roth of Melodic called the track "a typical fave song for many modern rockers".[19] Issy Herring of Distorted Sound called the lyrics "timelessly relatable" for any Three Days Grace fans who have experienced a toxic relationship at some point in their lives.[20] Graham Hartmann of Metal Injection wrote that the song still "holds up thanks so its unique main riff and powerful chorus. You've gotta give credit to that drum part too."[21]

In 2024, the staff of Consequence included the song in their list of "50 Kick-Butt Post-Grunge Songs We Can Get Behind".[22]

The music video for "I Hate Everything About You" premiered on June 18, 2003, via MTV.[23] The video was photographed by cinematographer Steve Gainer and directed by Scott Winig.[24] The video starts zoomed in towards several things, such as a TV producing static, a picture frame, and an ash tray, and then transitions towards Adam Gontier who starts singing. The video shows three teenagers going through a disastrous moment in their lives. One shows a young boy who finds his girlfriend cheating on him in the alleyway, kissing another guy. He is spying on them in his car. The second teenager is a young guy, who just broke up with her boyfriend, and the last is a boy who is being abused by his alcoholic father. Towards the end they are all seen smashing items into a hill. The young boy spying on his cheating girlfriend whips a portrait of a picture of them, smashing it to pieces. The second teenager is seen smashing her notebook of love notes and miscellaneous love items with her ex-boyfriend into the hill. The last boy, who is suffering child abuse, throws his drunken father's alcohol into the hill.

The band performed "I Hate Everything About You" at the 2004 Juno Awards.[25] The group also performed the song at the 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards.[26]

Awards and nominations for "I Hate Everything About You"

Year	Organization	Award	Result	Ref(s)
2004	Juno Awards	Producer of the Year	Won	[27]
2004	MuchMusic Video Awards	Best Rock Video	Nominated	[28]
		Favourite Canadian Group	Nominated
2007	BDS Spin Award	300,000 spins	Won	[29]

Accolades for "I Hate Everything About You"

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Alternative Addiction	United States	"Song of the Year"[30]	2003	33
AOL Radio		"Top Alternative Songs of the Decade – 2000s"[31]	2009	8

Personnel for "I Hate Everything About You" are adapted from the album's liner notes.[35]

Certifications and sales for "I Hate Everything About You"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[50]	Platinum	80,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[51]	Gold	45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[52]	Gold	150,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[53]	3× Platinum	90,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[54]	Platinum	600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[55]	9× Platinum	9,000,000‡
Ringtone / Mastertone
United States (RIAA)[56]	Gold	500,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release dates and formats for "I Hate Everything About You"

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref(s).
United States	April 28, 2003	Active rock radio	Main	Jive	[5]
	May 12, 2003	Alternative radio			[57][58]
Canada	September 22, 2003	Digital download	Acoustic		[32]
United States					[32]
Australia					[32]
Germany					[32]
Great Britain					[32]
United States	January 19, 2004	Contemporary hit radio	Main		[59]
Australia	March 19, 2004	Digital download			[33]
Great Britain					[33]
Germany					[33]
Australia	March 22, 2004	CD single			[60]
Australia	January 17, 2005	Digital download			[34]
Germany					[34]
Great Britain					[34]