I'm thinking this song is about a woman being in an oppressive relationship (how novel, Tori...).The "boy" is not necessarily abusive, but just spiritually abusive (considering her his "posession" and considering himself a "pro") in his patriarchal misogynistic treatment of the heroine. The heroine in the song has been "drinking down" the dude's "pain" but now she is confronting him, serving as one more manifestation of the liberated empowered female archetype Tori tends to embrace in her music.
Similarly, the song could perhaps be a confrontation between Tori and her critics, this "boy" being a sort of personification of them. In the song she states she certainly doesn't "need" their cash and won't allow "shade" to be thrown on her. Perhaps an angry response to the cringe-filled Beekeeper which got ripped to shreds by critics and fans alike?
I'm thinking this song is about a woman being in an oppressive relationship (how novel, Tori...).The "boy" is not necessarily abusive, but just spiritually abusive (considering her his "posession" and considering himself a "pro") in his patriarchal misogynistic treatment of the heroine. The heroine in the song has been "drinking down" the dude's "pain" but now she is confronting him, serving as one more manifestation of the liberated empowered female archetype Tori tends to embrace in her music.
Similarly, the song could perhaps be a confrontation between Tori and her critics, this "boy" being a sort of personification of them. In the song she states she certainly doesn't "need" their cash and won't allow "shade" to be thrown on her. Perhaps an angry response to the cringe-filled Beekeeper which got ripped to shreds by critics and fans alike?