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 Seychelles and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 MC5 to the rap kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Donny Hathaway. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Q and Not U 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 mellotron and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Names record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Hot Snakes,
MDC,
Derrick Morgan,
Soulsonic Force,
Archie Shepp,
Donny Hathaway,
The Happenings,
Hashim,
Magma,
Drive Like Jehu,
Prince Buster,
Deepchord,
Motorama,
Rotary Connection,
Au Pairs,
Jesper Dahlback,
Sixth Finger,
Make Up,
Lakeside,
Rhythm & Sound,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Cheater Slicks,
Andrew Hill,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Eli Mardock,
Matthew Bourne,
Morten Harket,
Kevin Saunderson,
Marcia Griffiths,
Gichy Dan,
Excepter,
Patti Smith,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Black Sheep,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Aloha Tigers,
Index,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Bronski Beat,
Can,
Letta Mbulu,
Second Layer,
Roxy Music,
Shoche,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Glenn Branca,
The Victims,
Derrick May,
Boredoms,
Sun Ra,
Heaven 17,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Birthday Party,
Simply Red,
Ossler,
June of 44,
The Gun Club,
John Coltrane,
Boogie Down Productions,
Warren Ellis,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Flash.
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.