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 Vietnam and from Columbus.
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 1965 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the snare 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 Soulsonic Force to the electroclash 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 Bootsy's Rubber Band. All the underground hits.
All Rosa Yemen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every R.M.O. 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ponytail,
Bob Dylan,
Todd Rundgren,
Neil Young,
Sandy B,
The Seeds,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Josef K,
Joe Finger,
Rakim,
Amon Düül,
JFA,
Gregory Isaacs,
Fat Boys,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Cecil Taylor,
June Days,
Lucky Dragons,
Juan Atkins,
James Chance & The Contortions,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Joy Division,
Flamin' Groovies,
Make Up,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Kas Product,
T. Rex,
Basic Channel,
Fatback Band,
Chrome,
John Cale,
Boogie Down Productions,
Piero Umiliani,
Von Mondo,
Nils Olav,
Section 25,
Lower 48,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Flipper,
Crispian St. Peters,
Symarip,
James White and The Blacks,
Brass Construction,
Eric B and Rakim,
Tropical Tobacco,
Sound Behaviour,
Slave,
the Human League,
Glenn Branca,
Gerry Rafferty,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Toni Rubio,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Johnny Clarke,
Radio Birdman,
Magazine,
The Detroit Cobras,
Shoche,
Freddie Wadling, Freddie Wadling, Freddie Wadling, Freddie Wadling.
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.