My Top 1000 Songs #974: Loser
No, not the Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead chestnut (though that's also pretty great). It's actually a lone appearance from Beck here on the list. I don't dislike the guy--I kinda enjoy his mellow stuff like 2014's Morning Phase, and there's a solid 80-minute CDR of upbeat hits I enjoy playing in the car--but he's not a central part of my listening experience. Yet I still totally get a kick out of the absurdist pseudo-rap of "Loser," off 1994's Mellow Gold (an album I otherwise haven't touched in 30 years). An instantly recognizable killer riff never hurts, plus maybe the best use of some random Spanish since The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go."
I suppose it's sort of a guilty pleasure? Not sure. It's a moment-specific novelty track, no question... but I found it fun at the time, and I still do. It doesn't emotionally transport me back to 1994 in the same way as, say, Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" or Sebadoh's "Skull" or Veruca Salt's "Seether," probably because from the start it was more a modestly fun novelty track I enjoyed hearing on the radio than a song that meant something special in my life. But it's every bit as era-defining, and the mere fact that I don't find it unlistenable 30 years later is actually pretty surprising.
Live 2003:A couple weeks ago!
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