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 Haiti and from Woodstock.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Heaven 17 to the grunge kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Oblivians. All the underground hits.
All Cecil Taylor tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Excepter record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kerri Chandler,
Brothers Johnson,
Ice-T,
Icehouse,
The Zeros,
Juan Atkins,
Nation of Ulysses,
Maleditus Sound,
Roy Ayers,
Nico,
Jacques Brel,
Neu!,
Royal Trux,
Arcadia,
Rosa Yemen,
The Shadows of Knight,
Gang of Four,
Darondo,
Bill Near,
Ponytail,
Gastr Del Sol,
Kas Product,
David Bowie,
Minor Threat,
Sight & Sound,
Pere Ubu,
Chris & Cosey,
Lyres,
Soft Machine,
Grauzone,
T. Rex,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Bobby Sherman,
Quadrant,
Television Personalities,
Freddie Wadling,
Cameo,
Soul II Soul,
Matthew Halsall,
The Martian,
Bang On A Can,
Alphaville,
Gang Green,
Carl Craig,
Lucky Dragons,
Dark Day,
Half Japanese,
Angry Samoans,
Second Layer,
The Fortunes,
Sun Ra,
Crooked Eye,
Little Man,
Thee Headcoats,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Sonics,
Eurythmics,
Masters at Work,
Japan,
Beasts of Bourbon,
the Bar-Kays,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Slits, The Slits, The Slits, The Slits.
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.