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 Swaziland and from Hong Kong.
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 1965 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the rhodes sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Soul Sonic Force to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Grey Daturas. All the underground hits.
All K-Klass tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jeru the Damaja 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a MDC record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
PIL,
H. Thieme,
Lindisfarne,
Skarface,
Pantaleimon,
Hot Snakes,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Quadrant,
ABC,
Yusef Lateef,
Cybotron,
Arcadia,
Janne Schatter,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Eve St. Jones,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Flamin' Groovies,
Aaron Thompson,
Young Marble Giants,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Barclay James Harvest,
the Swans,
Supertramp,
Icehouse,
Ludus,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Nas,
Second Layer,
Flash Fearless,
Banda Bassotti,
DJ Sneak,
Gang Gang Dance,
Procol Harum,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Black Flag,
The Gun Club,
Ituana,
Little Man,
The Techniques,
The Blackbyrds,
Johnny Osbourne,
Youth Brigade,
Laurel Aitken,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Fat Boys,
Eli Mardock,
Rakim,
The Trojans,
Patti Smith,
Goldenarms,
The Black Dice,
Lucky Dragons,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Sister Nancy,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Mark Hollis,
David Bowie,
The Vogues,
LL Cool J,
The Smiths, The Smiths, The Smiths, The Smiths.
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.