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 Bhutan and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
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 The Selecter to the jazz 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 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. All the underground hits.
All the Association tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Intrusion record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Scratch Acid record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Hashim,
Bobby Sherman,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Johnny Clarke,
The Gories,
Jeff Lynne,
Parry Music,
Dorothy Ashby,
Dawn Penn,
Simply Red,
Patti Smith,
Goldenarms,
John Foxx,
kango's stein massive,
R.M.O.,
Monks,
the Fania All-Stars,
Country Teasers,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Morten Harket,
Josef K,
Funky Four + One,
Alice Coltrane,
The Beau Brummels,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Cecil Taylor,
Yazoo,
Stockholm Monsters,
Royal Trux,
Frankie Knuckles,
Erasure,
Traffic Nightmare,
June Days,
Stetsasonic,
Organ,
Silicon Teens,
Pharoah Sanders,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Prince Buster,
Slave,
Cal Tjader,
Inner City,
Average White Band,
New York Dolls,
Aloha Tigers,
Arab on Radar,
Hoover,
Ice-T,
Yaz,
This Heat,
Dark Day,
Lower 48,
Arcadia,
Bobby Womack,
Television,
The J.B.'s,
Pantaleimon,
Gang of Four,
Al Stewart,
The Raincoats,
Kerrie Biddell, Kerrie Biddell, Kerrie Biddell, Kerrie Biddell.
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.