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 Papua New Guinea and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Marvin Gaye to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Anthony Braxton. All the underground hits.
All Lizzy Mercier Descloux tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sixth Finger record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 a guitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gregory Isaacs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
X-102,
Jeff Lynne,
Public Image Ltd.,
Donny Hathaway,
The Leaves,
Johnny Clarke,
Outsiders,
B.T. Express,
Depeche Mode,
Cheater Slicks,
Make Up,
Nirvana,
New Age Steppers,
Lakeside,
The Gun Club,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Sam Rivers,
Leonard Cohen,
Basic Channel,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
the Swans,
Goldenarms,
Television,
The Toasters,
Throbbing Gristle,
Idris Muhammad,
FM Einheit,
a-ha,
Pantaleimon,
Warren Ellis,
Royal Trux,
Laurel Aitken,
The Cure,
Todd Rundgren,
E-Dancer,
Tres Demented,
The American Breed,
Los Fastidios,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Eric Copeland,
Rosa Yemen,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Bobby Sherman,
The Red Krayola,
Man Eating Sloth,
Minutemen,
Crash Course in Science,
The Beau Brummels,
cv313,
La Düsseldorf,
David Axelrod,
Can,
The Doors,
Boredoms,
These Immortal Souls,
Half Japanese,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Slits,
The Motions,
Porter Ricks,
Man Parrish, Man Parrish, Man Parrish, Man Parrish.
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.