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 Uganda and from Glasgow.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 John Lydon to the techno kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Cal Tjader. All the underground hits.
All Anthony Braxton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Morten Harket 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dorothy Ashby record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The United States of America,
Joey Negro,
Jandek,
Cecil Taylor,
The Pop Group,
Franke,
Rites of Spring,
Anthony Braxton,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Boredoms,
FM Einheit,
Tomorrow,
Laurel Aitken,
Dawn Penn,
Sparks,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Bang On A Can,
Soft Cell,
B.T. Express,
Skarface,
Eve St. Jones,
Lucky Dragons,
Main Source,
Avey Tare,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Hashim,
The Divine Comedy,
Suburban Knight,
Pantaleimon,
Fela Kuti,
The J.B.'s,
Robert Wyatt,
Hardrive,
The Velvet Underground,
Harpers Bizarre,
Ken Boothe,
Cluster,
DJ Style,
The Walker Brothers,
Derrick Morgan,
Smog,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Ponytail,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Bronski Beat,
Little Man,
Chrome,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Adolescents,
R.M.O.,
Average White Band,
L. Decosne,
Godley & Creme,
Tropical Tobacco,
Dark Day,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
kango's stein massive,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Ultra Naté,
Stockholm Monsters,
The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke.
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.