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 Bhutan and from Milan.
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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 These Immortal Souls to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Erykah Badu. All the underground hits.
All Oblivians tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fatback Band record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sam Rivers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Slits,
The Five Americans,
Vladislav Delay,
The Barracudas,
Lower 48,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Harry Pussy,
Khruangbin,
Ken Boothe,
Rosa Yemen,
Alphaville,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Subhumans,
Henry Cow,
Guru Guru,
Cluster,
Flamin' Groovies,
Nation of Ulysses,
Letta Mbulu,
Kerrie Biddell,
Pere Ubu,
World's Most,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Harmonia,
Johnny Clarke,
The Searchers,
The Moleskins,
Anthony Braxton,
The Modern Lovers,
The Trojans,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
James White and The Blacks,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Busters,
Simply Red,
Cal Tjader,
Todd Rundgren,
The Residents,
Swans,
Surgeon,
Andrew Hill,
Sparks,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Adolescents,
Gichy Dan,
The Cure,
Max Romeo,
The Evens,
Marine Girls,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Jandek,
Lou Reed,
Barrington Levy,
The Stooges,
Stereo Dub,
Theoretical Girls,
Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes.
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.