So Mean

"So Mean" is a song by Poppy. It served as the third single from her fourth studio album Flux and is the third track on the album. It was released on August 25th, 2021 alongside a music video.

Background
The song's title was revealed along with the tracklist to Flux on July 30th, 2021.

On August 22nd, 2021, Poppy posted a picture of herself on social media with the caption "my head + my heart hate each other", which was later revealed to be a lyric in "So Mean". The following day, she posted a screenshot of the music video on social media with the caption "8/25", hinting at its release as a single.

Theme
"' ' In the past, I was around people who were less than ideal, and I had a really distorted view of my reality. And I realized that I wasn’t liking the person that I was becoming, and it was almost like a haze was cleared, and I was able to see things as they were. I was becoming a very angry person — angry mostly at myself. When you’re younger and you’re growing up, there’s a lot of stuff you take in subconsciously, based on your influences and surroundings. I caught myself falling into very angry patterns, and that was because of the environment being less than ideal for me — and hating myself.' - Poppy in an interview with Spin"

Trivia

 * The music video was directed by Poppy.
 * The music video features Nicolas Perez, Matt McJunkins and Ralph Alexander of Poppy's backing band, marking their first appearance in a music video.
 * The music video was likely inspired by the music video for Siouxsie and the Banshees' song "Happy House".
 * The single's official release date was confirmed on Deezer two days prior to release.