Platypus (I Hate You) song meaning

"I always wanted to name a song "Platypus" and the song recalls "I hate you", so that would be boring just to call it "I Hate You"" - Armstrong.

This song is filled with so much creative profanity that its lyrics are not even printed in the album inlay. ("The lyrics to Platypus will not be on the CD because of lawyer problems due to my potty mouth" - Armstrong). In Platypus the narrator verbally attacks a person that has not only hurt him in the past, but also took pleasure in doing so. But then all the foul deeds backfired and the object of the narrator's hatred is now haunted by all the pain he's caused other people. What goes around comes around and now everyone hates them and it's stupid to pretend that they enjoy it or don't care.

The song is said to be directed towards a journalist that Green Day had an unpleasant experience with. Supposedly he wrote good reviews about the band's music before Dookie, but then when the band became popular the critic changed his mind and pissed the band off with the way he acted. Platypus was the band's reply. Armstrong decided not to put the song on Insomniac, but instead released it on Nimrod because he felt it would show the critic that they've grown. The lyrics openly show the author's attitude towards this person and even expresses that it's a pleasure to know that he is sick and is going to die.