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 Zimbabwe and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 Philadelphia and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 The Birthday Party to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Brick. All the underground hits.
All Aural Exciters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marcia Griffiths record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 a chamberlin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Electric Prunes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer 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?
Outsiders,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Black Pus,
Tim Buckley,
Talk Talk,
James Chance & The Contortions,
F. McDonald,
Bizarre Inc.,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Lightning Bolt,
Franke,
Little Man,
AZ,
Sixth Finger,
Jeff Lynne,
Animal Collective,
Cal Tjader,
The Divine Comedy,
Pantytec,
New Age Steppers,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Wire,
Scan 7,
The Moody Blues,
Aural Exciters,
Section 25,
June of 44,
FM Einheit,
The Dave Clark Five,
Bad Manners,
The Wake,
Dawn Penn,
Letta Mbulu,
Jeff Mills,
The Kinks,
John Cale,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Busters,
Kenny Larkin,
K-Klass,
The Red Krayola,
Wally Richardson,
Rites of Spring,
The Human League,
Schoolly D,
Jerry's Kids,
Electric Prunes,
Simply Red,
The Music Machine,
Unwound,
Marvin Gaye,
The Standells,
DNA,
Camouflage,
Chrome,
Siglo XX,
the Human League,
E-Dancer,
Kaleidoscope,
Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now.
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.