Hate Me (Blue October song)

Furstenfeld wrote "Hate Me" as a response to the way his drug addiction and depression damaged his relationship with his girlfriend Maime, for whom he wrote the song "Calling You". An authentic voicemail Furstenfeld received from his mother in which she expresses concern for whether he is doing well and taking his medication is featured at the beginning of the song.[2]

The music video for "Hate Me", directed by Kevin Kerslake, begins with Furstenfeld sitting on his bed holding an answering machine and playing the tape of his mother which can be heard at the beginning of the song. After the message stops playing, Furstenfeld begins to walk through the house, seeing memories of him and his mother - her talking to him as a young boy, taking Prom pictures, and finally attempting to wake him from an overdose - replay in different rooms.

These scenes alternate with footage of Blue October singing the song in the house's attic during the chorus. At the end of the video, Furstenfeld takes the answering machine to a cemetery and lays it on his mother's grave.[3] The video led many fans to believe that Jeremy and Justin's mother had died. She is in fact alive, and she plays herself in the video. The fictional narrative about her dying was conceived by the music video director.[4]