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 Jordan and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Soft Machine to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Bad Manners. All the underground hits.
All Kool G Rap & DJ Polo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Little Man record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ossler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Malaria!,
Vainqueur,
Au Pairs,
Graham Central Station,
Jacob Miller,
Sam Rivers,
Newcleus,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Ken Boothe,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Lungfish,
Dave Gahan,
Eric B and Rakim,
Royal Trux,
Freddie Wadling,
The Cramps,
Aural Exciters,
Metal Thangz,
Funky Four + One,
R.M.O.,
Glambeats Corp.,
Monolake,
the Slits,
Drexciya,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Wally Richardson,
Qualms,
Bad Manners,
Black Moon,
Mr. Review,
The Busters,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Judy Mowatt,
Anakelly,
Hasil Adkins,
Slick Rick,
Warsaw,
Minutemen,
Radiohead,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Minnie Riperton,
DJ Style,
Blancmange,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Fortunes,
The Smiths,
Dark Day,
The Beau Brummels,
World's Most,
Harmonia,
The Music Machine,
Erykah Badu,
Talk Talk,
Pharoah Sanders,
The Standells,
Bizarre Inc.,
Camouflage,
Radiopuhelimet,
Quando Quango,
Icehouse,
Funkadelic,
Little Man,
Flipper, Flipper, Flipper, Flipper.
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.