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 Nigeria and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1962 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Cafe Wha.
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 Amazonics. All the underground hits.
All Black Sheep tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ken Boothe record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Circle Jerks,
Kerri Chandler,
Gabor Szabo,
Patti Smith,
Blancmange,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Kinks,
Thee Headcoats,
Moss Icon,
Susan Cadogan,
Y Pants,
The Birthday Party,
Michelle Simonal,
Donny Hathaway,
The Sonics,
Glambeats Corp.,
Maurizio,
The Five Americans,
This Heat,
ABC,
The Misunderstood,
Peter and Kerry,
Grandmaster Flash,
The Index,
Radio Birdman,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Los Fastidios,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Saccharine Trust,
Althea and Donna,
The Barracudas,
Lindisfarne,
Clear Light,
Brick,
Pantaleimon,
Yaz,
Monolake,
Curtis Mayfield,
Jawbox,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Terrestrial Tones,
Arab on Radar,
Arcadia,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
The Moleskins,
X-Ray Spex,
Adolescents,
Marmalade,
the Fania All-Stars,
Gregory Isaacs,
Easy Going,
The Dirtbombs,
The Pop Group,
Bizarre Inc.,
Junior Murvin,
Quadrant,
the Germs,
Kaleidoscope,
The Black Dice,
Barrington Levy,
These Immortal Souls,
The Fire Engines,
Television Personalities, Television Personalities, Television Personalities, Television Personalities.
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.