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 Grenada and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the guitar 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 Roy Ayers Ubiquity to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Country Teasers. All the underground hits.
All Sonny Sharrock tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Chocolate Watch Band record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions 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?
Kayak,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Saccharine Trust,
Liliput,
The Count Five,
OOIOO,
the Human League,
Whodini,
Make Up,
The Techniques,
Sandy B,
Kas Product,
Hardrive,
Fear,
The United States of America,
New Age Steppers,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Bauhaus,
The Cowsills,
Todd Rundgren,
Delon & Dalcan,
Bronski Beat,
Intrusion,
Funkadelic,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Trojans,
Little Man,
The Gories,
Pantytec,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Joe Smooth,
Erykah Badu,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Dead C,
Von Mondo,
Mad Mike,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Junior Murvin,
Guru Guru,
Rufus Thomas,
Half Japanese,
LL Cool J,
Radiohead,
Yaz,
Bill Wells,
Loose Ends,
The Shadows of Knight,
Sugar Minott,
Pharoah Sanders,
Jacob Miller,
X-Ray Spex,
The Cramps,
L. Decosne,
Jimmy McGriff,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Modern Lovers,
June Days,
Slave,
Lalo Schifrin,
Judy Mowatt, Judy Mowatt, Judy Mowatt, Judy Mowatt.
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.