I'm a Loser

"I'm a Loser" was written by John Lennon, who sang a remarkably low G considering his range (he was a tenor, whereas the low G is generally solely the realm of baritones and bass singers). The song is about a guy who strikes out with a girl, and tries to put on a brave face even though he's pretty broken up about it.

With this song, we also get another glimpse into John's psyche when he wrote it. "In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon said the song was 'me in my Dylan period' and added, 'Part of me suspects I'm a loser and part of me thinks I'm God Almighty. [Laughs.]'" That feeling of having a dual nature is common to many musicians and artists (as well as politicians, I'm sure :P ). Here again we see that Bob Dylan had a powerful influence on John, an influence that went both ways. 

However, another side to that loser vs. God conflict is revealed in a quote from Paul:

Looking back on it I think songs like 'I'm a Loser' and 'Nowhere Man' were John's cries for help. We used to listen to quite a lot of country and western songs and they are all about sadness and 'I lost my truck' so it was quite acceptable to sing 'I'm a loser' ... It's only later you think, God! I think it was brave of John.

John's personal issues--his marriage to Cynthia was deteriorating (Cynthia claimed caused by his use of LSD); he was physically abusive and actually pretty violent, not only towards his wife but also other people; he was always on the road and rarely saw his wife or his son, Julian, born the previous year; etc.--really bleed through into his music at this point.

According to music critic Richie Unterberger, while the lyrics tell a story of romantic rejection, "I'm a Loser" is one of the first Beatles compositions that "goes beyond young love" including "the hypocrisy of keeping up a happy face when your world's falling down".

So, it's truly with "I'm a Loser" that we get a first (or second) look into John's persona at the time. We'll see more of that later.

That's it for today... Today's song was kind of a Debbie Downer so I'm going to leave you with a couple links for stuff that should cheer you up. :) See you tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 6

Songs Completed: 54