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 Kyrgyzstan and from Edmonton.
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 1968 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Adolescents to the jazz 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 Judy Mowatt. All the underground hits.
All Grey Daturas tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Associates record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pulsallama,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Anakelly,
Khruangbin,
Bronski Beat,
Massinfluence,
Ten City,
The Saints,
Erykah Badu,
Pantytec,
AZ,
Carl Craig,
Q and Not U,
Gastr Del Sol,
Mad Mike,
10cc,
Sam Rivers,
Roxy Music,
Ituana,
The Gories,
James White and The Blacks,
Boz Scaggs,
Desert Stars,
Dead Boys,
Sugar Minott,
Barbara Tucker,
Urselle,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Real Kids,
Andrew Hill,
Sun City Girls,
the Germs,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Seeds,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Aswad,
Aaron Thompson,
Half Japanese,
Basic Channel,
Scion,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Charles Mingus,
the Sonics,
Terry Callier,
JFA,
Lyres,
Tomorrow,
Bootsy Collins,
Derrick Morgan,
Bill Near,
Roger Hodgson,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Gladiators,
Sex Pistols,
Mandrill,
Marc Almond,
MC5,
Parry Music,
Tom Boy,
One Last Wish, One Last Wish, One Last Wish, One Last Wish.
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.