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 Lesotho and from Taipei.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Girls At Our Best! to the techno 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 One Last Wish. All the underground hits.
All The Offenders tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Colin Newman 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jandek record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
H. Thieme,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Newcleus,
Wings,
Wire,
Gong,
Crispian St. Peters,
Harry Pussy,
Todd Terry,
Cheater Slicks,
Wally Richardson,
Idris Muhammad,
Pere Ubu,
Blossom Toes,
Dennis Brown,
Johnny Clarke,
E-Dancer,
Brothers Johnson,
Sex Pistols,
Loose Ends,
Drive Like Jehu,
Alice Coltrane,
Max Romeo,
Black Flag,
Little Man,
Gang Green,
Darondo,
Royal Trux,
Yazoo,
Rakim,
Rotary Connection,
Siglo XX,
Aloha Tigers,
The Velvet Underground,
The Monochrome Set,
Jawbox,
Nico,
Grauzone,
Electric Prunes,
The Dead C,
Y Pants,
John Holt,
Harmonia,
Bad Manners,
Stetsasonic,
Glenn Branca,
Ossler,
Danielle Patucci,
The Zeros,
Rhythm & Sound,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Inner City,
Visage,
Audionom,
Basic Channel,
Jacques Brel,
Lightning Bolt,
Michelle Simonal,
Archie Shepp,
Minnie Riperton,
The Beau Brummels,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Fear,
Rekid, Rekid, Rekid, Rekid.
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.