"Better Class of Losers" is the title of a song co-written and released by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Randy Travis

Randy Travis

Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...

. It was released in December 1991 as the third single from his 1991 CD, High Lonesome

High Lonesome (Randy Travis album)

High Lonesome is the title of an album released in 1991 by American country music artist Randy Travis. It was released on August 27, 1991. Four singles were released from the album. "Forever Together" , "Better Class of Losers" , "Point of Light" , and "I'd Surrender All" reached number 20...

, it peaked at #2 in both the United States and Canada. Travis co-wrote this with Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson

Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...

.

Content

The song is narrated from the point of view of a husband, who married a woman from "high society". Over the course of their relationship, he has grown to dislike both her friends and the high class lifestyle she leads, and has announced his intent to associate with people who "buy their coffee beans already ground" and who don't "pay their bills on home computers" (which, in 1991, was a rarity).

However, the song is ambiguous as to the meaning of "going back". Though the narration is directed toward the wife, it is unclear whether he intends to seek a divorce, or simply stop attending high society functions with her.

Music video

The music video was directed by Jim Shea, and features Travis walking through various sets that convey the song's description, such as a high-rise penthouse set to a farm style set.

Musicians

As listed in liner notes.

• Eddie Bayers
  Eddie Bayers
  Eddie Bayers is an American session drummer who has played on 150 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for eight straight years, and has three times won the Nashville Music Awards 'Drummer of the Year'...
  
   - drums
• Russ Barenberg
  Russ Barenberg
  Russ Barenberg is a Grammy-nominated American bluegrass musician.-Biography:Barenberg began playing guitar at age 13, taking lessons from Alan Miller, whose brother John Miller Barenberg he would later play with. His style was heavily influenced by the flatpicking technique of Clarence White. He...
  
   - acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Dennis Burnside - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Jerry Douglas
  Jerry Douglas (musician)
  Jerry Douglas is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned Dobro players.-Career:In addition to his twelve solo...
  
   - dobro
  Dobro
  Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
  
  
• Doyle Grisham - steel guitar
  Steel guitar
  Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
  
  
• David Hungate
  David Hungate
  David Hungate is a bass player noted as a member of Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1977-1982. Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees album of 1976 included Hungate and several other future members of Toto...
  
   - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Mac McAnally
  Mac McAnally
  Lyman Corbitt "Mac" McAnally, Jr. is an American country music singer-songwriter, session musician and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his singles were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six more on the Hot Country Songs charts...
  
   - acoustic guitar
• Brent Mason
  Brent Mason
  Brent Mason is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter...
  
   - 6 string bass, electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Mark O'Connor
  Mark O'Connor
  Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...
  
   - fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  
• John Wesley Ryles
  John Wesley Ryles
  John Wesley Ryles is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1968 with the single "Kay", a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts, and the title track to his debut album for Columbia Records.Ryles later recorded one album, Reconsider Me, for the Plantation label,...
  
   - background vocals
• Dennis Wilson - background vocals
• Curtis Young - background vocals

Use in media

This song was performed by Travis in the 2007 movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets, where he guest starred performing for the President of the United States at Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon

The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...

.

Chart performance

Chart (1992)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2