You're a fucking son-of-a-bitch
You arrogant asshole
Your pants are too tight
You fucking homo
You suck, Mr. Buttfuck
You don't belong here
No way! You're fucking gay
I'm not a loser!
- Descendents, I'm Not A Loser
I'm Not A Loser is by far the most covered song in the Descendents lexicon.
There are a couple of reasons for this. The song rocks. As far as hard fast loud Descendents songs go this one has to be near the top. The intro/verse riff just drips snot. It's an angry tune sung from a point of view that was a recurring one for Milo Goes To College, that of the sloppy working class outcast geek that girls in general aren't interested in.The other reason this song is probably covered so much is the shock/offensive factor.
Our protagonist starts the song out denying that he's a loser even if his clothes are a mess and he smells a little telling whomever is calling him a loser that they "can fuck off cuz I'm working sixty a week!" The song goes on for a couple of more verses to rail against rich kids doing drugs with interjections of the affirmative "I'm not a LOSER! That's right. I am not a LOSER!" before the final verse proceeds with what I like to think of as the meltdown.
The last verse, which I reproduced in it's entirety above has to be a big part of the song's appeal. All the frustration of trying to prove that you are worth a damn only to see the girl you like go out with a guy that you know is a scumbag, all the pent up frustration of being ridiculed by morons in high school who don't understand you, all the rage that a young person can have towards his or her job, love, parents, friends, society, Ronald McDonald, whoever, is exorcised in a profanity strewn salvo. Of course the Descendents weren't the first to go super blue lyrically, following the Sex Pistols' Bodies with it's "Fuck this and fuck that fuck it all and fuck the fucking brat" by at least five years. The Descendents, however, will always top the Sex Pistols as far as authenticity goes.
The big problem with this song and I know I might be accused of looking through post 90s PC goggles is the homophobia. Bill Stevenson has denied the song's homophobia on multiple occasions as just being the jargon used by all the meathead surfer punks in Southern California in the early 80s but it still is shocking to hear in such blatant terms. It's ugly. Then again, that shock value could be a main reason the song is so popular.
For the longest time I thought he said "you suck, let's buttfuck." I found this confusing.
The band I was in in high school, Complete Shock, would often borrow my grandparent's conversion van to take us and our equipment to shows throughout New Mexico. We affectionately called this van Mr Buttfuck, because you could pack all your shit in the back.
Teenagers are retarded.
Listen to I'm Not A Loser
