The Problem Is You, Too: Maberry’s “HYPOCRITE!”

Nobody wants to be the bad guy. We’d much rather be the misunderstood one, the person who tried their best, the one who got hurt first. But what happens when you’re the one asking for attention while giving next to nothing in return?

That’s the uncomfortable mess Maberry gets into with “HYPOCRITE!”, and I appreciate that he doesn’t try to make himself look particularly good in the process.

There’s a certain irony in wanting someone to open up to you when you’re struggling to give them what they need, too. The song sits right in that contradiction. Maberry’s narrator recognizes his own bitterness and impatience, but that self-awareness doesn’t magically make the frustration disappear. He still wants to be heard. He still wants the other person to stop bottling everything up. And underneath all that irritation, there’s a very human fear of being shut out completely.

What makes this interesting to me is that nobody gets to walk away looking entirely innocent. One person wants attention but struggles to give enough of it back. The other keeps their emotions bottled up, leaving the relationship stuck in a cycle of unmet needs and growing resentment. Everyone wants something, nobody seems to know how to ask for it properly, and suddenly even affection starts to feel exhausting.

Been there? I think most of us have, in one way or another.

The part I find especially compelling is how the song moves between frustration and longing. There's impatience, the feeling of being suffocated, and the admission that love itself might be slipping away. But there's also a desire to hold on to the connection, even when it seems to be doing more harm than good. It's a messy combination of feelings, and that's precisely why it works as a subject for a song.

Of course, recognizing your own hypocrisy doesn't necessarily mean you've figured out what to do about it. Sometimes, you can identify exactly what's wrong and still find yourself repeating the same patterns. Knowing you're being unfair doesn't automatically make you less bitter. Wanting someone to understand you doesn't mean you've learned how to understand them.

And maybe that's the point. “HYPOCRITE!” doesn't need to be a neat little lesson about accountability. Its narrator is still caught up in the argument, still wrestling with his own thoughts, still trying to make sense of a relationship that seems to be slipping away. There's no easy resolution when you're simultaneously asking for understanding and struggling to offer it.

The track also fits naturally into Maberry's DUMBO!, an album built around self-deprecation, inner dialogue, and the contradictions that come with being a person who spends a little too much time inside their own head. Across the record, the San Antonio indie-pop artist pairs intimate, melancholic songwriting with more exuberant alt-pop production, creating space for feelings that aren't always pretty or easy to explain.

For me, that's what makes “HYPOCRITE!” worth a listen. It's not just about admitting you have flaws. It's about sitting with the uncomfortable realization that your pain doesn't erase the pain you've caused someone else. You can be genuinely hurt and still have some apologizing to do.

And honestly? That's a much more interesting place to start than pretending you're always the victim.