Ah, The Smiths’ canon is chock full of losers. Virtually every song is about a loser. Here are a few faves:
Morrissey’s solo work also prominently features losers… I’ll leave that to someone else.
Oh, What a Lonely Boy, Andrew Gold
Coward of the County, Kenny Rogers
“Losers” by JJ Cale of course !!!
And the song “Loser like me” from Glee (TV) 
Pearl Jam’s Evenflow is Aqualung-esque.
“Freezin’, rests his head on a pillow made of concrete, again…”
The *Air Supply *discography?
I never saw Tommy as a loser per se, just a boy trying to honor his dead father’s wishes to “walk away from trouble when you can”. He sure taught those Gatlin boys they were wrong about him.
Speaking of country songs about “losers”, I really liked Nick Cave’s music from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Cave has a cameo near the end when he sings The Ballad of Jesse James. Ford (Casey Affleck) is in the room and, yeah, it gets a little awkward after a few verses.
Now, the people held their breath when they heard of Jesse’s death
They wondered how he came to die
It was one of his own gang called little Robert Ford
An’ he shot Jesse James on the sly
This song was written circa 1882 and has been covered by many artists. It even shows up in 1949’s I shot Jesse James. It’s neat to compare Cave’s and Robin Short’s different portrayals of “the wandering troubador” who each sing the same song in the movies. I can’t link to YouTube right now, but those clips are out there.
Early Morning Rain, by Gordon Lightfoot (gorgeous Peter, Paul & Mary version)
*…I’m stuck here on the ground, cold and drunk as I might be
You can’t jump a jet plane like you can a freight train
So I’d best be on my way in the early morning rain *
Creeps Like Me, Lyle Lovett
*Look around
And you will see
This world is full of creeps like me
You look surprised
You shouldn’t be
This world is full of creeps like me *
Lose Again, Karla Bonoff
How about Adventures in Failure by MC 900ft. Jesus?
Alice Cooper’s “You and Me,” part of which goes:
…you and me ain’t movie stars;
What we are is what we are.
We share a bed, some lovin’, and t.v.–yeah.
That’s enough for a workin’ man.
What I am is what I am,
And I tell you, babe,
Well, that’s enough for me.
seems to me to be one of those songs (“Okie from Muskogee” is another) that’s written to mock a particular demographic that doesn’t see through the ridicule and embraces it.
My first thought was Springsteen’s “Meeting Across The River”.
I’ll also throw in “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus.
Pitiful by Weird Al.
By The Zombies. How Clever.
