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 South Africa and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 chamberlin 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 The Fuzztones to the dance 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 Freddie Wadling. All the underground hits.
All David McCallum tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Banda Bassotti record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joe Finger record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kaleidoscope,
Infiniti,
Young Marble Giants,
Alison Limerick,
Von Mondo,
The Fugs,
New Order,
Qualms,
Skriet,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Goldenarms,
CMW,
Dawn Penn,
Susan Cadogan,
Symarip,
Joy Division,
the Human League,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Scrapy,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
China Crisis,
Sugar Minott,
Carl Craig,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Erasure,
Jeff Lynne,
The Grass Roots,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Lightning Bolt,
the Bar-Kays,
The Litter,
Das Ding,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Bad Manners,
DJ Sneak,
New Age Steppers,
The Zeros,
Easy Going,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Hasil Adkins,
Al Stewart,
Country Teasers,
Andrew Hill,
Chris Corsano,
Mad Mike,
UT,
Ituana,
the Swans,
Harmonia,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Doors,
Nik Kershaw,
Juan Atkins,
Cluster,
Dual Sessions,
Lou Reed,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Reagan Youth,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Gang of Four,
AZ,
Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks.
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.