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 Peru and from Spokane.
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 1969 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
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 Tommy Roe to the jazz 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 Smog. All the underground hits.
All Tom Boy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bad Manners record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Chris & Cosey record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin 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?
Arcadia,
Agitation Free,
The Vogues,
Juan Atkins,
The Fuzztones,
Big Daddy Kane,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Moby Grape,
Tommy Roe,
Curtis Mayfield,
Loose Ends,
The Offenders,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Japan,
Patti Smith,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Fall,
Soft Cell,
Peter & Gordon,
Goldenarms,
Buzzcocks,
Minor Threat,
the Slits,
Bang On A Can,
Mr. Review,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
X-Ray Spex,
Wasted Youth,
The Buckinghams,
Tim Buckley,
Idris Muhammad,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Sam Rivers,
The Cowsills,
Das Ding,
Pere Ubu,
Godley & Creme,
Chris & Cosey,
Public Image Ltd.,
Bobby Sherman,
Babytalk,
Scan 7,
Boredoms,
Jandek,
Aswad,
Kerri Chandler,
Minnie Riperton,
The Selecter,
Gang Green,
Derrick May,
Ultra Naté,
Country Teasers,
Adolescents,
Zero Boys,
The Star Department,
The Moody Blues,
Fatback Band,
Whodini,
Robert Wyatt,
Spoonie Gee,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot.
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.