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 Bhutan and from London.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1969 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 rhodes 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 Minutemen 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 Scientists. All the underground hits.
All John Lydon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rotary Connection record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 linndrum and a marimba 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 clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Terrestrial Tones,
Barbara Tucker,
The Martian,
Joey Negro,
Livin' Joy,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Audionom,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Bauhaus,
Model 500,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Pagans,
Flipper,
Byron Stingily,
Banda Bassotti,
Goldenarms,
Mary Jane Girls,
Mantronix,
Soul II Soul,
Kayak,
LL Cool J,
Harpers Bizarre,
Mark Hollis,
Robert Wyatt,
Gang of Four,
Public Enemy,
Ice-T,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Robert Görl,
Hoover,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Television Personalities,
Curtis Mayfield,
Joe Smooth,
Simply Red,
Wally Richardson,
The Mojo Men,
Suburban Knight,
The Monks,
Eric Dolphy,
Cybotron,
Nik Kershaw,
Drive Like Jehu,
Amon Düül II,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Shoche,
Urselle,
The Red Krayola,
The Fortunes,
Warsaw,
B.T. Express,
David Bowie,
Surgeon,
Brothers Johnson,
Jacob Miller,
Soft Cell,
Spandau Ballet,
Janne Schatter,
Camberwell Now,
DJ Sneak,
Fatback Band, Fatback Band, Fatback Band, Fatback Band.
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.