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 Burkina and from Delhi.
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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the organ 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 Gang Starr to the punk 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 Jawbox. All the underground hits.
All DeepChord presents Echospace tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Chris Corsano record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a A Certain Ratio record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Zeros,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Warsaw,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
H. Thieme,
Amazonics,
The Music Machine,
Suicide,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Mission of Burma,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Spoonie Gee,
Danielle Patucci,
Jacques Brel,
Desert Stars,
Wasted Youth,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Pharoah Sanders,
Spandau Ballet,
Arab on Radar,
Matthew Bourne,
Masters at Work,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Ronan,
Chrome,
The Toasters,
The Litter,
Crispian St. Peters,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
X-Ray Spex,
Guru Guru,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Glambeats Corp.,
Kenny Larkin,
Charles Mingus,
Mad Mike,
Terry Callier,
Banda Bassotti,
The Associates,
Susan Cadogan,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Residents,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Lyres,
Aural Exciters,
The Walker Brothers,
Stetsasonic,
Schoolly D,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Minutemen,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
B.T. Express,
Jawbox,
Duran Duran,
Funky Four + One,
the Soft Cell,
Delta 5,
Angry Samoans,
A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio.
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.