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 China and from Lagos.
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 1961 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the oboe 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 Deepchord to the dance 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 The Divine Comedy. All the underground hits.
All AZ tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every John Coltrane record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 sitar and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Reuben Wilson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Vladislav Delay,
Public Image Ltd.,
Simply Red,
Lalo Schifrin,
Theoretical Girls,
Desert Stars,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Gregory Isaacs,
Sandy B,
Make Up,
Byron Stingily,
Technova,
Darondo,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Radio Birdman,
Sixth Finger,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bob Dylan,
Zapp,
Roxette,
Eric Copeland,
Gil Scott Heron,
Quadrant,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Cymande,
The Dirtbombs,
The Toasters,
The Saints,
Lakeside,
The Move,
The Pretty Things,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Bobby Womack,
Grauzone,
Fugazi,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Raincoats,
Pylon,
Joy Division,
ABBA,
The Leaves,
Los Fastidios,
AZ,
JFA,
Andrew Hill,
Fear,
Flipper,
Beasts of Bourbon,
New Age Steppers,
Blossom Toes,
Loose Ends,
Sonic Youth,
The Doobie Brothers,
Isaac Hayes,
Todd Terry,
Bobby Byrd,
Procol Harum,
MC5,
Tropical Tobacco,
Nico,
Nils Olav, Nils Olav, Nils Olav, Nils Olav.
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.