“Almost” is currently getting a bit of airplay* and my personal fav is “My Own Worst Enemy”**–I’m sure there must be other songs about total losers but I can’t bring any to mind. Do you have favorites?
*Almost dropped out of school and went to LA
Where I was almost famous for almost a day.
**Please tell me why…
The car is in the front yard
I’m sleeping with my clothes on
I came in through the window last night
And you’re gone
Hmm, how about “Loser,” by Beck, and “Even the Losers,” by Tom Petty?
“I’m a Loser” - Beatles
“I’m a looooooser
and I’ve lost someone who’s dear to me.”
“Have you heard about the Lonesome Loser?”
Steely Dan: Deacon Blues
I’ll learn to work the saxophone
I’ll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
Near enough for Jazz.
Papa was a rollin’ stone
where ever he laid his hat was his home
and when he died
all he left us was alone.
Richard & Mimi Farina’s “Hard Loving Loser”
Note that Beck’s Loser has samples of George H. W. Bush under it. “I’m a driver, I’m a winner.”
The Descendents song “I’m Not A Loser” does not fall into this category. At least not intentionally.
And One’s “Loser” might fit the bill.
if you got a problem
dont’t beg the world for help
and if you need somebody babe
i’ve got a dog who’s jobless now
here comes the loser
the master is back - back on track *
Actually, it fits perfectly…the non-existent parenthetical ending to that title should be “(But You Sure As Hell Are)”…
Cruise down the boulevard wasting mommy’s gas
While you’re lookin’ for some chicks on Friday night
Only goal in life is to smoke a joint
Decide that you’re gonna get laid tonight
No Self Esteem by The Offspring would certainly qualify.
“Creep” by Radiohead seems to fit the bill.
Going back a little ways into the past, there’s “What a Fool Believes” by the Doobie Brothers.
Does “Misunderstanding” by Genesis qualify? Or is the guy more a victim of incidental bad luck than a loser?
C’mon, all these suggestions and *no * Sinatra standards?
I mean, just off the top of my head: One For My Baby (and One For the Road), In the Wee Small Hours, and, of course, Here’s to the Losers.
There are dozens more, I assure you.
At Seventeen I think by Joni Mitchell, although it’s more that she wasn’t with the in crowd than an actual loser.
Let the Sun Shine In by Pebbles Flintstone and Bam Bam Rubble.
Does anybody know what I’m talking about?
Another Sinatra fave of mine (sung by many others, too, of course):
Blues in the Night
Pretty much the whole genre of the blues. And a substantial part of country music as well.
Everyone is going out and having fun
I’m a fool for staying home, and having none
I can’t get over how she set me free
Oh, oh, lonesome me
I always thought it was Neil Young but now find it might be Don Gibson who wrote it.
Bob Seeger’s Beautiful Loser.