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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the marimba 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 Man Eating Sloth to the dance kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Joyce Sims. All the underground hits.
All Freddie Wadling tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gary Puckett & The Union Gap 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 snare and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang On A Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rites of Spring,
Dave Gahan,
Albert Ayler,
Barrington Levy,
Roy Ayers,
the Germs,
Little Man,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Aloha Tigers,
The Residents,
Ken Boothe,
Danielle Patucci,
Leonard Cohen,
Minny Pops,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Boogie Down Productions,
Rotary Connection,
Hasil Adkins,
Carl Craig,
Wings,
the Fania All-Stars,
Icehouse,
Iggy Pop,
Bad Manners,
The Monks,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
These Immortal Souls,
Joe Smooth,
Gil Scott Heron,
Barbara Tucker,
Pere Ubu,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Half Japanese,
Gregory Isaacs,
Fifty Foot Hose,
kango's stein massive,
Thompson Twins,
Minnie Riperton,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Black Bananas,
Jandek,
The Offenders,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Stereo Dub,
L. Decosne,
Second Layer,
Quadrant,
Gang Starr,
Tres Demented,
Girls At Our Best!,
Average White Band,
Gang Green,
ABBA,
Robert Görl,
Pharoah Sanders,
Section 25,
Aaron Thompson,
The Red Krayola,
The Names,
Mark Hollis,
Throbbing Gristle,
Dorothy Ashby,
Deadbeat, Deadbeat, Deadbeat, Deadbeat.
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.