Loser

Album: Deadbeat (2025)
Charted: 79 91
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this funk-laced psych-pop track, Kevin Parker lays bare his tendency to sabotage relationships. Think of it as the shaggier cousin of "The Less I Know the Better" who's not just heartbroken, but also self-aware enough to know he's the one holding the wrecking ball.
  • Parker has been here before. Back in 2015, he released "Cause I'm A Man" on Currents, which was essentially a sheepish shrug set to synths: "I'm a man, I mess up, please don't blame me for my biology."

    Then there was "New Person, Same Old Mistakes, where the title alone tells you the joke.

    "Loser" circles back to those themes with more bite, like Parker has finally stopped making excuses and just started calling himself out directly. It's the same terrain but with sharper rocks.
  • "Loser" follows hot on the heels of "End Of Summer" as the second single from Deadbeat, but the two tracks feel like they come from opposite ends of the same late-night party. "End of Summer" dives headfirst into deep dance music - glossy, pulsing, and built for the floor - where the lights blur and the beat takes over. "Loser," by contrast, is a funk-laden psych-pop confession, more concerned with Parker's tendency to wreck relationships than keeping anyone moving at 120 BPM.
  • The video, directed by Sam Kristofski, doubles down on the theme of misplaced confidence and awkward aftermaths. It stars Stranger Things actor and Djo frontman Joe Keery as a melancholic character who is dumped by his girlfriend, wanders aimlessly through Los Angeles, and spends time outside a convenience store reflecting on his situation.

    Beck briefly appears as a passerby in a yellow shirt, linking his own 1994 hit "Loser" to Tame Impala's self-deprecating anthem.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Who Did It First?

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Vince Clarke

Vince ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.