Nobody Wins

Album: Del Rio, Texas, 1959 (1992)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • As a songwriter, Radney Foster told us, "Putting words on paper isn't your job. Your job is to go digging around in your soul. And that's the end of it all. A songwriter's job is to go digging around in his soul, and come up with - and put to paper - what others can't express about the soul itself."

    Foster does just that with this song, co-written with Kim Richey, at a time when they were hitting very tough road bumps with their respective spouses. Foster says, "I think both of us were going through really bad relationships, unwilling to talk about it at the time, but willing to at least talk about how you hate it when you have a fight with your spouse, and how awful that is. And I was like, 'Yeah, nobody wins those things.' And that's just how this song was born. Neither one of us are with the person that we were with when we wrote the song."
  • Foster feels that to write a song alone is "sort of a monkish thing, but I still do that quite a bit." Co-writing, however, "is a lot like therapy. You talk through what goes on down in the soul. Maybe not necessarily yours, but at some times it's yours." He says the best results are the songs that "you stick a big piece of your gut into, and really figure out what is it about yourself that makes somebody go, 'Wow, that guy got in my living room. How did he know exactly how I felt?' Well, it's because the human condition is pretty universal." (Check out our full interview with Radney Foster.)

Comments: 3

  • Norma Jean Morrissey from Cardinal Lake, Duluth, GaOnly recently heard Radney. He has great talent and a big future in country music. When I hear him I think of Buddy Holly. It is something in his delivery of a song that reminds me of Buddy. Favorite song so far is "Nobody Wins". Great tune and lyrics.
  • Camille from Toronto, OhOh, yeah, I remember when this song came out and the video was played on a country music station. Great song, and the words ring true; too often, fights between two people end up where nobody wins.
  • Dylan from Port Orange, FlAmazing song!!! Today's country just isn't the same.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal Tap

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal TapSong Writing

Based on criteria like girlfriend tension, stage mishaps and drummer turnover, these are the 10 bands most like Spinal Tap.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Brenda Russell

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"They're Playing My Song

As a songwriter and producer, Narada had hits with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Starship. But what song does he feel had the greatest impact on his career?

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde of The PretendersSongwriter Interviews

The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.