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 Uzbekistan and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Susan Cadogan to the rap kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Bang on a Can All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All A Certain Ratio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New York Dolls record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Laurel Aitken record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Frankie Knuckles,
Mission of Burma,
The Grass Roots,
Donald Byrd,
Ossler,
Minor Threat,
Erasure,
Toni Rubio,
Roger Hodgson,
Oblivians,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Stockholm Monsters,
Grey Daturas,
Talk Talk,
Robert Wyatt,
Sam Rivers,
Second Layer,
Fad Gadget,
Infiniti,
L. Decosne,
X-Ray Spex,
Outsiders,
PIL,
Main Source,
Sight & Sound,
Amon Düül II,
Kenny Larkin,
Lower 48,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Lou Christie,
Chris Corsano,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Vogues,
Franke,
Magma,
Gregory Isaacs,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Von Mondo,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Smog,
Audionom,
Matthew Halsall,
Gang Gang Dance,
Sandy B,
Graham Central Station,
Clear Light,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Y Pants,
Sparks,
Rosa Yemen,
Pylon,
Con Funk Shun,
Eve St. Jones,
The Black Dice,
Scott Walker,
Rapeman,
Lebanon Hanover,
Marvin Gaye,
Fat Boys,
Bad Manners,
Little Man, Little Man, Little Man, Little Man.
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.