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 Mozambique and from Manchester.
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 1961 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Arab on Radar to the grime kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade. All the underground hits.
All Minnie Riperton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Brothers Johnson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a X-102 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Human League,
The Trojans,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
the Slits,
Terry Callier,
Sixth Finger,
Junior Murvin,
Jeff Mills,
The Dirtbombs,
John Holt,
Q and Not U,
Dual Sessions,
Cluster,
Laurel Aitken,
The Index,
Swans,
Masters at Work,
The Slackers,
Bluetip,
Warren Ellis,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Fela Kuti,
The Music Machine,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Lou Christie,
Television Personalities,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Eric Copeland,
Ponytail,
Au Pairs,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Circle Jerks,
The Human League,
Zapp,
Chris Corsano,
Sparks,
Make Up,
The Velvet Underground,
Robert Hood,
Colin Newman,
Monolake,
The Busters,
Unrelated Segments,
The Residents,
Spandau Ballet,
CMW,
Dark Day,
Infiniti,
The Smiths,
Lyres,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Sexual Harrassment,
Con Funk Shun,
Los Fastidios,
Trumans Water,
Ludus,
Scan 7,
Jerry's Kids,
Bob Dylan,
Camberwell Now,
Qualms,
Nirvana,
Symarip, Symarip, Symarip, Symarip.
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.