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 Algeria and from Cairo.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Hong Kong.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Buzzcocks to the dance kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Half Japanese. All the underground hits.
All Tears for Fears tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Max Romeo record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Public Enemy,
Gil Scott Heron,
Dark Day,
Mars,
Television,
Index,
Slick Rick,
Boredoms,
The Techniques,
Nas,
The Five Americans,
Oneida,
Pere Ubu,
John Lydon,
Don Cherry,
Vainqueur,
Rufus Thomas,
Yellowson,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Au Pairs,
Lakeside,
The Smiths,
Malaria!,
Marcia Griffiths,
Rakim,
The Standells,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Bizarre Inc.,
Scan 7,
Quantec,
Youth Brigade,
Pussy Galore,
Monks,
Charles Mingus,
Nick Fraelich,
The Fire Engines,
The Stooges,
Agent Orange,
Animal Collective,
Aaron Thompson,
Icehouse,
Magma,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Rod Modell,
Throbbing Gristle,
Roxy Music,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Gang of Four,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
X-101,
Lightning Bolt,
Lou Reed,
Circle Jerks,
Television Personalities,
Sixth Finger,
Agitation Free,
Stiv Bators,
Guru Guru,
Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley.
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.