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 Kenya and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 Robert Palmer 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 Jesper Dahlbäck to the funk 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 Eli Mardock. All the underground hits.
All Procol Harum tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Erasure 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
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 James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Clear Light,
John Cale,
Jeru the Damaja,
Ralphi Rosario,
Accadde A,
The United States of America,
Grauzone,
Joy Division,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Donny Hathaway,
Das Ding,
Minor Threat,
Grey Daturas,
Warsaw,
Archie Shepp,
Fugazi,
Marmalade,
Jawbox,
Echospace,
The Seeds,
Wally Richardson,
Matthew Bourne,
Pere Ubu,
Brothers Johnson,
Ice-T,
Gichy Dan,
David McCallum,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Porter Ricks,
Royal Trux,
The Residents,
Howard Jones,
Basic Channel,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Marshall Jefferson,
Fatback Band,
Metal Thangz,
Rod Modell,
The Grass Roots,
Ultravox,
The Barracudas,
Alice Coltrane,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Qualms,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Hot Snakes,
Gil Scott Heron,
Soft Machine,
Iggy Pop,
Black Flag,
DJ Sneak,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Raincoats,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Durutti Column,
Suicide,
Unrelated Segments,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Quando Quango,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Japan,
Eric Copeland,
Josef K,
La Düsseldorf, La Düsseldorf, La Düsseldorf, La Düsseldorf.
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.