Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History of New Music Daily: The origins of Beck’s “Loser”

There’s a cool story about how Beck came up with the chorus to the song “Loser.” 

He was goofing around with a tape machine at a friend’s house one afternoon. For whatever reason, they decided to work on a song that featured a rap.  However, the rap didn’t work.  Beck just could get it right and became rather upset with himself.

That’s when he started putting himself down while the tape was running.  He sang “I’m a loser, baby/So why don’t you kill me” as a way of getting out his frustration with his inability to rap properly.

But once he finished a long take, his friend said “That’s it!  We’ve got the song!”  The rest, as they say, is history.

Check out Tuesday’s post on Artis the Spoonman. And don’t forget to check out my podcast The Ongoing History of New Music where you listen on SpotifyApple PodcastsGoogleStitcher, or wherever you get your on-demand audio.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 40226 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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