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 Finland and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in 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 1963 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 synthesizer 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 Public Image Ltd. to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Gang Gang Dance. All the underground hits.
All The Music Machine tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Seeds record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pet Shop Boys,
Johnny Clarke,
Minutemen,
Althea and Donna,
Boredoms,
Piero Umiliani,
Peter & Gordon,
Japan,
Ludus,
Barry Ungar,
Warsaw,
The Zeros,
Boogie Down Productions,
Gang of Four,
The Durutti Column,
Intrusion,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Maleditus Sound,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Skatalites,
Gong,
Stetsasonic,
The J.B.'s,
Gregory Isaacs,
Funkadelic,
Flamin' Groovies,
Crispy Ambulance,
Shuggie Otis,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Scratch Acid,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Archie Shepp,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Delta 5,
June of 44,
The Young Rascals,
Alphaville,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The Neon Judgement,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Camberwell Now,
Nas,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Anthony Braxton,
E-Dancer,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Ken Boothe,
Niagra,
Lower 48,
Susan Cadogan,
Circle Jerks,
Sarah Menescal,
The Mummies,
Trumans Water,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Mad Mike,
The Gladiators,
The Residents,
Smog,
Massinfluence, Massinfluence, Massinfluence, Massinfluence.
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.