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 Eritrea and from Calgary.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Panda Bear to the electroclash 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 Livin' Joy. All the underground hits.
All Manfred Mann's Earth Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every One Last Wish record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 clarinet and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lalann record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Brass Construction,
The Fuzztones,
The Fugs,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Rites of Spring,
Moby Grape,
Rhythm & Sound,
EPMD,
the Soft Cell,
ABC,
Big Daddy Kane,
Peter and Kerry,
Make Up,
Michelle Simonal,
Cecil Taylor,
DJ Sneak,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Monochrome Set,
Todd Rundgren,
Marvin Gaye,
Charles Mingus,
Bootsy Collins,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Grauzone,
Lungfish,
Deadbeat,
Ken Boothe,
The Dead C,
PIL,
Lou Christie,
a-ha,
Vainqueur,
Alphaville,
Minor Threat,
The Zeros,
The Count Five,
Sun City Girls,
Letta Mbulu,
Echospace,
Flipper,
Cameo,
Ponytail,
The Slackers,
Simply Red,
Pharoah Sanders,
David Bowie,
Fat Boys,
The Techniques,
The Searchers,
Unwound,
Yellowson,
CMW,
Black Moon,
Robert Wyatt,
Radio Birdman,
Donny Hathaway,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Stooges,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy McGriff.
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.