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 Nepal and from Shanghai.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 harpsichord 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 Jandek to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 the Fania All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All Ten City tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Minny Pops,
Barrington Levy,
Eli Mardock,
Don Cherry,
New Order,
Marcia Griffiths,
Rapeman,
Tropical Tobacco,
Big Daddy Kane,
Gang of Four,
the Sonics,
Anthony Braxton,
Ralphi Rosario,
Underground Resistance,
The Count Five,
Crime,
ABBA,
Crooked Eye,
Reuben Wilson,
Albert Ayler,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Judy Mowatt,
Oneida,
The Pop Group,
The Alarm Clocks,
Country Teasers,
Thee Headcoats,
Skaos,
Kerrie Biddell,
Bluetip,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Modern Lovers,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Sällskapet,
Cameo,
Unrelated Segments,
Bobby Womack,
Ponytail,
Andrew Hill,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Brass Construction,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Skatalites,
Guru Guru,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Piero Umiliani,
Rufus Thomas,
Soft Cell,
Joensuu 1685,
Second Layer,
Scott Walker,
Reagan Youth,
June Days,
Lakeside,
Porter Ricks,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Pet Shop Boys,
Skriet,
Bobby Byrd,
Charles Mingus,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Saccharine Trust, Saccharine Trust, Saccharine Trust, Saccharine Trust.
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.