# "I'm a driver, I'm a winner ... " - Whence the sample? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111 "2004-02-02T00:51:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/1 "2004-02-02T00:51:49Z")
" … things are gonna change, I can feel it." Most people know that line from Beck’s song _Loser_. Some people think [it’s from a George Bush speech](http://www.secret-passage.com/secret/loser.html), but others just know [it’s from an obscure movie, _Kill the Moonlight_](http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=163444). Thing is, I haven’t been able to find hide nor site of either the Bush speech nor the movie. IMDb is insisting that nothing named _Kill the Moonlight_ exists, and searching for the text of decade-old campaign speeches isn’t something Google is specialized for. So, I’d like a few cites for one or both theories. Or if you can find evidence for a third theory, I’d love to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/2 "2004-02-02T02:02:14Z")
Hmm, I always just assumed that it was a Bush quote because that’s who it sounded like to me. [http://www.emusic.com/cd/10597/10597639.html](http://www.emusic.com/cd/10597/10597639.html) This site has the Kill the Moonlight sdtk. For download and has a 10 second track by Thomas Hendrix called “Driver Winner.” I’m not a member of the site, so I can’t download it, but that’s probably it. ---
**Author:** ![terd\_ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@terd\_ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terd_ferguson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/3 "2004-02-02T06:02:32Z")
Well on [www.songfacts.com](http://www.songfacts.com), it has both theories listed. So I am going to have to go ahead and declare shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![terd\_ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@terd\_ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terd_ferguson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/4 "2004-02-02T06:07:14Z")
AHHHAA. > [@](#): > > The sample “I’m a driver, I’m a winner, things are gonna change, I can feel it” is from Steve Hanft’s film “Kill The Moonlight”. Steve also directed the video for $300 bucks. [http://www.beck.com/diskobox/song.php?id=00162](http://www.beck.com/diskobox/song.php?id=00162) Guess I’ll put the broom away. ---
**Author:** ![Alfishius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Alfishius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfishius)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/5 "2016-04-17T02:46:28Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > " … things are gonna change, I can feel it." > > Most people know that line from Beck’s song _Loser_. Some people think [it’s from a George Bush speech](http://www.secret-passage.com/secret/loser.html) Sounds like George H.W. Bush to me. Also sounds like the tone and content of his speeches as president. The economy tanked during his presidency, he didn’t really take any action, his economic plan was just to “wait until things changed” for the better. So the line “Things are going to change, I can feel it!” Sounds like the kind of mindless optimism he peddled. Also, he was dogged by the insult of “wimp” all through his term, so the idea that he would defiantly say something like “I’m a driver! I’m a winner!” fits. ---
**Author:** ![I-VI-ii-V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@I-VI-ii-V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-VI-ii-V)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/6 "2016-04-20T04:06:16Z")
Yes, it’s from _Kill the Moonlight_. There are also clips of the movie in the “Loser” video. I saw the film’s premiere at the Sunset 5 in 1997 or 98. Beck did a post-film set in the theater with his _Mutations_-era band. I remember a Doors cover being one of the highlights. I think it was “Light My Fire”. ---
**Author:** ![Alfishius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Alfishius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfishius)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/7 "2016-05-02T23:36:58Z")
I’m not saying George Bush said it, just that the content of the lines fits what George Bush would say. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/8 "2016-05-03T00:46:46Z")
[The movie clip in question](https://youtu.be/glsYqn6CerE?t=161). ---
**Author:** ![Alfishius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Alfishius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfishius)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/9 "2016-08-06T23:22:11Z")
Wouldn’t be prudent…at this juncture. ---
**Author:** ![Gobhoblin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Gobhoblin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gobhoblin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-driver-im-a-winner-whence-the-sample/227111/10 "2023-09-24T20:00:20Z")
> **[Kill the Moonlight (film)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_the_Moonlight_(film))** > > The 16mm feature film, Kill the Moonlight, completed in 1991, is an unconventional comedy about a loser stock car racer. It starts normal enough, like a low budget drive-in movie from the 70s, but as the film unfolds, the main character starts to unravel in strange ways when he is contaminated by toxic waste. At the same time, the plot of the film disintegrates and scenes start to go out of sync, and the picture goes upside down and backwards at times, sort of like a folk song turning into an ex...