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 Saudi Arabia and from Taipei.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 at the first Suicide practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the sitar 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 Zero Boys to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 The Martian. All the underground hits.
All Reagan Youth tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Todd Terry record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a harpsichord 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 chamberlin and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Detroit Cobras,
Ronan,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Faust,
The Fall,
Scratch Acid,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Lucky Dragons,
Subhumans,
Piero Umiliani,
Sonny Sharrock,
Gang Green,
The Stooges,
The Monochrome Set,
This Heat,
Boz Scaggs,
Josef K,
Cheater Slicks,
Minor Threat,
Stiv Bators,
Ronnie Foster,
Lee Hazlewood,
Basic Channel,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Tremeloes,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Evens,
Sällskapet,
Alphaville,
Godley & Creme,
Anthony Braxton,
Ossler,
Zapp,
Peter and Kerry,
The United States of America,
K-Klass,
Wally Richardson,
Groovy Waters,
Charles Mingus,
The Selecter,
Delon & Dalcan,
Motorama,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Crash Course in Science,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Bobby Byrd,
10cc,
Bang On A Can,
The Misunderstood,
Lou Christie,
Barry Ungar,
Theoretical Girls,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Livin' Joy,
Guru Guru,
Ken Boothe,
Joe Finger,
Grauzone,
Mary Jane Girls,
Drive Like Jehu,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Swans,
Icehouse, Icehouse, Icehouse, Icehouse.
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.