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 Belarus and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 guitar 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 Monolake to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Rod Modell. All the underground hits.
All Jeru the Damaja tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Matthew Halsall record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 a snare and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Slave record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Colin Newman,
Moss Icon,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Lee Hazlewood,
Arcadia,
Newcleus,
Flash Fearless,
Bad Manners,
Hoover,
the Human League,
Nik Kershaw,
Slick Rick,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Vladislav Delay,
John Holt,
Babytalk,
The Stooges,
Fluxion,
The Alarm Clocks,
Josef K,
Basic Channel,
Whodini,
Bang On A Can,
June Days,
The Smiths,
Nirvana,
Robert Hood,
Dead Boys,
Delta 5,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Matthew Bourne,
The Blues Magoos,
Darondo,
Drive Like Jehu,
Liliput,
The Young Rascals,
John Coltrane,
Angry Samoans,
Chris Corsano,
ABBA,
Organ,
Gabor Szabo,
Mandrill,
Charles Mingus,
The Mojo Men,
the Association,
Negative Approach,
Khruangbin,
Gregory Isaacs,
Kaleidoscope,
cv313,
The Durutti Column,
Fatback Band,
The Raincoats,
Pantaleimon,
X-Ray Spex,
Bobby Hutcherson,
The Grass Roots,
The Motions,
The Saints,
In Retrospect,
Donny Hathaway,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The New Christs,
Boogie Down Productions, Boogie Down Productions, Boogie Down Productions, Boogie Down Productions.
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.