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 San Marino and from Paris.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Model 500 to the techno 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 Saccharine Trust. All the underground hits.
All Patti Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every A Certain Ratio record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alison Limerick record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June Days,
MDC,
The United States of America,
Pantytec,
Saccharine Trust,
Visage,
Mars,
Surgeon,
The Slackers,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Girls At Our Best!,
Eric B and Rakim,
Alphaville,
Black Flag,
Neil Young,
Lalo Schifrin,
Television Personalities,
Michelle Simonal,
Magazine,
Johnny Clarke,
Throbbing Gristle,
Electric Prunes,
Graham Central Station,
Lou Christie,
Thompson Twins,
OOIOO,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Little Man,
Stockholm Monsters,
Dorothy Ashby,
Piero Umiliani,
Man Parrish,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Pet Shop Boys,
U.S. Maple,
Simply Red,
Laurel Aitken,
Aloha Tigers,
the Association,
Johnny Osbourne,
Stetsasonic,
Ronan,
Newcleus,
The Pop Group,
Donald Byrd,
June of 44,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Tommy Roe,
The Grass Roots,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Al Stewart,
The Dave Clark Five,
Amazonics,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Oblivians,
Sparks,
Ultra Naté,
The Fall,
Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes.
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.