Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Singapore and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Rufus Thomas to the disco kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by John Holt. All the underground hits.
All Public Image Ltd. tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pere Ubu record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Avey Tare record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Curtis Mayfield,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Neu!,
Swans,
Erykah Badu,
Funky Four + One,
The Smiths,
The Stooges,
Funkadelic,
Kurtis Blow,
Scratch Acid,
Public Enemy,
Jerry's Kids,
Avey Tare,
Mandrill,
Rosa Yemen,
One Last Wish,
Lou Reed,
Bill Near,
Bootsy Collins,
Goldenarms,
Joensuu 1685,
The Red Krayola,
Dark Day,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Yellowson,
The Zeros,
Grandmaster Flash,
Gil Scott Heron,
Sex Pistols,
Arab on Radar,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Ossler,
The Pretty Things,
Icehouse,
The Victims,
Black Sheep,
Alison Limerick,
The Names,
The Flesh Eaters,
Eric Copeland,
The Selecter,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Traffic Nightmare,
Harry Pussy,
Kenny Larkin,
Al Stewart,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Ronan,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Jawbox,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Slackers,
Minutemen,
Ornette Coleman,
The Walker Brothers,
Marshall Jefferson,
Urselle,
Johnny Clarke,
10cc,
Q and Not U,
Babytalk,
Gastr Del Sol, Gastr Del Sol, Gastr Del Sol, Gastr Del Sol.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.