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 Poland and from Houston.
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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Sonics to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 MDC. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Donny Hathaway record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 organ and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Slackers,
David Bowie,
Sonic Youth,
Panda Bear,
Section 25,
Robert Wyatt,
Johnny Osbourne,
Grey Daturas,
Roger Hodgson,
Cluster,
Jerry Gold Smith,
the Human League,
Mary Jane Girls,
Sam Rivers,
Mad Mike,
Ken Boothe,
Gerry Rafferty,
Procol Harum,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Juan Atkins,
The Happenings,
Joe Finger,
Mantronix,
Minor Threat,
Television,
The Misunderstood,
John Cale,
T.S.O.L.,
Gang Gang Dance,
Oneida,
Kerri Chandler,
Khruangbin,
Matthew Bourne,
Idris Muhammad,
Reuben Wilson,
Ralphi Rosario,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
The Blackbyrds,
Minnie Riperton,
Black Flag,
the Fania All-Stars,
Janne Schatter,
Silicon Teens,
Pulsallama,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Suicide,
Eurythmics,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Associates,
The Move,
Niagra,
Drive Like Jehu,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Model 500,
The Index,
Marcia Griffiths,
Television Personalities,
Eric B and Rakim,
Fort Wilson Riot,
David McCallum,
Absolute Body Control,
Crime, Crime, Crime, Crime.
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.