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 Vanuatu and from Beijing.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Bang on a Can All-Stars to the crunk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 The Stooges. All the underground hits.
All Robert Hood tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Blancmange 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 an arpeggiator and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Archie Shepp record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
CMW,
Liliput,
Ken Boothe,
Jesper Dahlback,
Pharoah Sanders,
Cymande,
Swans,
Fela Kuti,
Talk Talk,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Selecter,
Hashim,
Aloha Tigers,
Cal Tjader,
ABC,
Sonic Youth,
Black Moon,
Circle Jerks,
Jacob Miller,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Moby Grape,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Robert Görl,
Don Cherry,
Camberwell Now,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Crime,
Tres Demented,
Sun City Girls,
Outsiders,
The Residents,
Althea and Donna,
Dark Day,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Human League,
New Order,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Severed Heads,
Amazonics,
T. Rex,
Shoche,
Spoonie Gee,
Nik Kershaw,
the Germs,
Silicon Teens,
Television,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Doors,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Motions,
Barrington Levy,
The United States of America,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Grandmaster Flash,
Charles Mingus,
Radio Birdman,
Mars,
Visage,
Johnny Clarke,
PIL, PIL, PIL, PIL.
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.