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 Brunei and from Lille.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Unrelated Segments to the funk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 A Certain Ratio. All the underground hits.
All The Grass Roots tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Toasters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Camouflage record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Japan,
EPMD,
the Human League,
Sun Ra,
The Gories,
Crime,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Detroit Cobras,
Skriet,
Joey Negro,
Barry Ungar,
The Trojans,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Residents,
cv313,
Al Stewart,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Babytalk,
Supertramp,
Jandek,
8 Eyed Spy,
Main Source,
Cymande,
June Days,
Young Marble Giants,
The Standells,
Prince Buster,
Outsiders,
Pet Shop Boys,
the Fania All-Stars,
Curtis Mayfield,
Black Pus,
Peter & Gordon,
Max Romeo,
Niagra,
Little Man,
The Litter,
Ossler,
Interpol,
The Buckinghams,
Don Cherry,
Tropical Tobacco,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Neu!,
Mad Mike,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
The Smoke,
Infiniti,
Stetsasonic,
Guru Guru,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Gang Green,
Crash Course in Science,
Soulsonic Force,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Delon & Dalcan,
Urselle,
The Golliwogs,
Lindisfarne,
The Selecter, The Selecter, The Selecter, The Selecter.
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.