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 South Sudan and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 Delhi and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 clarinet 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 Lou Reed to the dance kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Beau Brummels. All the underground hits.
All Charles Mingus tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pantaleimon record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tommy Roe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Byron Stingily,
The Misunderstood,
Andrew Hill,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Howard Jones,
The Real Kids,
LL Cool J,
Y Pants,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Motions,
The Fall,
Don Cherry,
The Zeros,
Alice Coltrane,
Marc Almond,
Kaleidoscope,
John Foxx,
The Count Five,
Black Moon,
Janne Schatter,
The Seeds,
Bill Wells,
Animal Collective,
Cybotron,
Bronski Beat,
Deepchord,
Clear Light,
Wolf Eyes,
Absolute Body Control,
Johnny Osbourne,
Parry Music,
Lucky Dragons,
Rhythm & Sound,
Blake Baxter,
Yaz,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Associates,
Q65,
Roger Hodgson,
Crispian St. Peters,
Godley & Creme,
Mantronix,
Cecil Taylor,
Nas,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Dave Gahan,
The Young Rascals,
Livin' Joy,
Hasil Adkins,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Fortunes,
Warren Ellis,
Section 25,
Ultimate Spinach,
F. McDonald,
The Dirtbombs,
Maurizio,
Dual Sessions,
Sarah Menescal,
Bauhaus,
Jeru the Damaja,
Gang Starr, Gang Starr, Gang Starr, Gang Starr.
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.