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 Dominica and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Minny Pops 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 Roy Ayers. All the underground hits.
All Soul II Soul tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every John Foxx 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ajijia Myrayebe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Absolute Body Control,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Roger Hodgson,
The Move,
The Associates,
Quadrant,
The Real Kids,
Freddie Wadling,
Talk Talk,
The Kinks,
Zapp,
Juan Atkins,
Arcadia,
Sonny Sharrock,
Eddi Front,
Bill Near,
Bill Wells,
Bluetip,
The Misunderstood,
Oneida,
Robert Görl,
Delta 5,
Graham Central Station,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Flipper,
Jacques Brel,
Crispy Ambulance,
D'Angelo,
Tropical Tobacco,
Gang of Four,
The Fugs,
Silicon Teens,
Tim Buckley,
Malaria!,
The American Breed,
Tubeway Army,
Peter & Gordon,
a-ha,
X-Ray Spex,
Public Image Ltd.,
The J.B.'s,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Clear Light,
Reuben Wilson,
Aural Exciters,
Vainqueur,
Curtis Mayfield,
Blossom Toes,
The Skatalites,
Todd Terry,
Joy Division,
L. Decosne,
Tres Demented,
Rhythm & Sound,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Agent Orange,
Rites of Spring,
Sparks,
The Moleskins,
The Remains,
ABC, ABC, ABC, ABC.
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.