I feel that word association or word play is so very important in song. The message of the lyrics of course is the key element but making those words flow together and make a sound that you can get wrapped up in... well that's magical. When an artist is able to do this you can just feel the words circling around you as you start to vibe out with the sound. Beck's Loser is just one of those songs. The delivery of each word, each phrase, just seems to roll off of Beck's tongue as his words just wrap around you and paint this bizarre scenario filled with shotgun weddings, maggots, and guitar strings.
I am a child of the '90's no doubt. That's my musical revolution. I grew up with bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, and Smashing Pumpkins. These were my gateway bands. The bands I was discovering and finding out what my musical direction was. These were the bands that opened the doors to others I had no idea even existed. Rage Against the Machine's political outbursts lead me to Chuck D and Public Enemy. Both sending out messages that needed to be heard to make their listener more educated. Yes they were different extremes but they share the same coin. I'm so glad that I grow up in the '90's the music meant something (well at least until '95 before the pop movement and boy bands... ugh). I can't imagine growing up in the '80's. How does one recover from that? Could you imagine the music of the '80's defining who you are (sorry to those of you who did grow up during the '80's sound)?
Beck was right there in the middle of the '90's. He was a different sound (I mean just listen to those awesome opening chords of Loser... sick). His Mellow Gold album wasn't the typical alternative record that was coming out and Loser was case in point. First off what the hell is this song really about? I know it's insanely fun to sing and to play over and over again but I don't think I've ever been able to peg what it's about. Maybe that's the beauty or maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand (this is the more possible scenario). Although every time I hear Loser I think of one of those basement poetry bars. You know the ones where everyone is wearing black and barrettes and snapping their fingers instead of clapping. Read the lyrics I think it fits perfectly:
"Forces of evil on a bozo nightmare/Ban all the music with a 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 hangin' from a pigeon wing... you dig brotha? (snap, snap, snap, snap)"
I never really got into Beck (I only have a handful of songs on the ole ipod) but the stuff I have I really like (Farwell Ride is brilliant). To be honest I really started to love this song when I was in college (post 90's eeep). Truth be told I always liked it but in college I discovered how awesome this song is to sing and listen to really, really loud.
It actually inspires me to give out home work. I want you to learn some of if not all of the lyrics to this song in the next few days (if you don't know them already). Then sing along as it plays in your car (it's always best to sing in your car), then I dare you to tell me that you didn't have fun. And if you're able to figure out what this song is about while you do it... please let me know.
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