Eric Ryan AndersonWhen Brothers Osborne wrote “Hatin’ Somebody” for their upcoming third album, TJ and John had no idea how relevant it would turn out to be.

“We wrote [it] with Casey Beathard,” TJ explains, “and it’s kind of interesting how it has turned out to be timely. But ultimately, the song really just talks about, in the chorus, ‘Hatin’ somebody’s never got nobody nowhere/It’s a bad seed to sow, it’s a dead end road when you go there.’ Honestly, that just kind of always applies.”

“It was an idea that Casey brought to us,” TJ recalls, “and we instantly were like, ‘Man, I just love what that says.'”

“And everyone’s been guilty of doing some hatin’. I have,” he confesses. “And it’s a song that, it’s fun to sing for people to kinda just remind them, but also to remind myself…”

The Maryland natives also built some Osborne family history into the tune. 

“If you listen closely to the second verse,” John tells ABC Audio, “we mentioned our grandfather who grew up in West Virginia and then moved to Baltimore for work. So it explains a lot about us, our family, our upbringing.”

“I mean, hate has been around for a long time,” John continues, “longer than all of us have been alive. So it’s always going to be a topic. It just so happened that it has coincided with a lot of newer public events that have reached the media.”

“One of my favorite lines,” TJ interjects, “is ‘You need a paddle on the left and a paddle on the right, because we’re all on the same damn boat.’ That is so true.”  

Brothers’ third album, Skeletons, arrives October 9, and also features their current hit, “All Night.”

By Stephen Hubbard
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