‘Loser’ is a single by American musician Beck. It was written by Beck and record producer Carl Stephenson, who both produced the song with Tom Rothrock. ‘Loser’ was initially released as Beck's second single on March 8, 1993. When it was first released independently, ‘Loser’ began receiving airplay on various modern rock stations, and the song's popularity eventually led to a major-label record deal with Geffen Records-subsidiary DGC Records. After the song's re-release under DGC, the song peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in April 1994, becoming Beck's first single to hit a major chart. Internationally, the song reached number one in Norway and entered the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The song was subsequently released on the 1994 album Mellow Gold. Its music video was directed by Steve Hanft. In 2023, Billboard magazine ranked ‘Loser’ among the 500 best pop songs of all time.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Beck was a homeless musician in the New York City anti-folk scene. He returned to his hometown of Los Angeles in early 1991, due to his financial struggles. Described by biographer Julian Palacios as having "no opportunities whatsoever", Beck worked low-wage jobs to survive, but still found time to perform his songs at local coffeehouses and clubs. In order to keep indifferent audiences engaged in his music, Beck would play in a spontaneous, joking manner. "I'd be banging away on a Son House tune and the whole audience would be talking, so maybe out of desperation or boredom, or the audience's boredom, I'd make up these ridiculous songs just to see if people were listening. 'Loser' was an extension of that."
‘Loser’ was written and recorded by Beck while he was visiting Carl Stephenson, a record producer for Rap-A-Lot Records, at his home. Although the song was created spontaneously, Beck has claimed to have had the idea for the song since the late 1980s; he once said, "I don't think I would have been able to go in and do 'Loser' in a six-hour shot without having been somewhat prepared. It was accidental, but it was something that I'd been working toward for a long time."
In January 1994, ‘Loser’ quickly ascended the charts in the US, reaching a peak of number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and topping the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was certified gold by the RIAA and sold 600,000 copies domestically. The song also charted in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout Europe. ‘Loser"s worldwide success shot Beck into a position of attention, and the media dubbed him the center of the new so-called "slacker" movement. Beck refuted this characterization of himself, saying, "Slacker my ass. I never had any slack. I was working a $4-an-hour job trying to stay alive. That slacker stuff is for people who have the time to be depressed about everything."
Around the time of the song's release, Beck had been approached about including ‘Loser’ on the soundtrack of the comedy film Dumb and Dumber, but he refused. He recalled the process, "I remember getting a phone call one day. My manager said, 'There's a film. They want to use 'Loser' as the theme song.' There was a long pause, and he said, 'The name of the film is Dumb And Dumber.' And I just remember: That sums up what the world thinks of me at this point. I tried to have fun with it, tried to not take it too seriously. But at the same time, it was a little disheartening sometimes."
Labels – Bong Load Custom, DGC (re-release)
Songwriters – Beck, Carl Stephenson
Producers – Beck, Carl Stephenson, Tom Rothrock
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey
Butane in my veins, and I'm out to cut the junkie
With the plastic eyeballs, spray paint the vegetables
Dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose
Kill the headlights and put it in neutral
Stock car flaming with the loser in the cruise control
Baby's in Reno with the vitamin D
Got a couple of couches, sleep on the loveseat
Someone came, saying I'm insane to complain
About a shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt
Don't believe everything that you breathe
You get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve
So shave your face with some mace in the dark
Saving all your food stamps and burning down the trailer park
Yo, cut it
[Chorus]
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
(Double barrel buckshot)
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
[Verse 2]
The forces of evil in a bozo nightmare
Ban all the music with the phony gas chamber
'Cause one's got a weasel, and the other's got a flag
One's on the pole, shove the other in a bag
With the rerun shows and the cocaine nose job
The daytime crap of the folksinger slob
He hung himself with a guitar string
A slab of turkey neck, and it's hanging from a pigeon wing
You can't write if you can't relate
Trade the cash for the beat, for the body, for the heat
And my time is a piece of wax falling on a termite
Who's choking on the splinters
[Chorus]
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
(Get crazy with the cheese whiz)
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
(Drive-by body pierce)
[Bridge]
(Yo, bring it on down)
(em llik uoy t'nod yhw os
Ybab resol a m'I
Rodedrep nu yoS)
I'm a driver, I'm a winner
Things are gonna change, I can feel it
[Chorus]
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
(I can't believe you)
Soy un perdedor
(Ahh)
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
(Sprechen Sie Deutsch, eh, baby?)
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
(Know what I'm sayin'?)