Anti-Hero Lyrics
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I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people
I've ghosted stand there in the room
I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis
(Tale as old as time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day, I'll watch as you're leaving
'Cause you got tired of my scheming
(For the last time)
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At teatime, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby
And I'm a monster on the hill
Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city
Pierced through the heart, but never killed
Did you hear my covert narcissism
I disguise as altruism
Like some kind of congressman?
(A tale as old as time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day, I'll watch as you're leaving
And life will lose all its meaning
(For the last time)
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me)
At teatime, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers 'round and reads it and then someone screams out
"She's laughing up at us from Hell"
It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi
Everybody agrees, everybody agrees
It's me, hi (Hi), I'm the problem, it's me (I'm the problem, it's me)
At teatime (Teatime), everybody agrees (Everybody agrees)
I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
About this song
Midnights’ insecurity tour: “depression works the graveyard shift” clocks the illness like night labor; “sexy baby / monster on the hill” is fame’s scale—and maybe a 30 Rock wink. Chorus “it’s me, hi” points the mic inward; “covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman” dresses hypocrisy in political rhetoric. Bridge DIL nightmare plus the MV will—13 cents to the kids, beach house to the cats—is satirical inheritance greed, not a documentary about a real daughter-in-law.
Key terms & images
- Graveyard shift depression
- Depression as night-shift work: it clocks in when others sleep. Illness given a schedule, not a vague adjective.
- Sexy baby / monster on the hill
- Wanting to stay a charming “baby” while knowing you’re the watched monster on the hill—fame enlarges a person past control. A possible 30 Rock wink is optional spice.
- Covert narcissism as altruism
- Hidden self-regard costumed as care, then compared to congressman-grade performance empathy—self-audit with institutional bite.
- Daughter-in-law nightmare / 13 cents
- Bridge and MV inheritance fever dream: pennies to “the kids,” property to cats—cartooning greed, not filing a real-family brief.
FAQ & readings
- Why does “It’s me, hi” hit so hard?
- It folds the usual pop accusation aimed at “you” back onto “me.” Owning the problem is harder to dance away from than blaming someone else.
- Is the MV will about a real person?
- Read it as the bridge’s paranoia staged as absurdist theater—inheritance jokes inflated to expose celebrity-as-carcass anxiety, not a documentary DIL takedown.
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