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 Burkina and from Tehran.
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 1963 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 sitar 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 Bob Dylan to the punk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Aural Exciters. All the underground hits.
All Johnny Osbourne tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sun Ra 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marcia Griffiths record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Marmalade,
Yazoo,
Camouflage,
Terry Callier,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Leaves,
Kayak,
The Sound,
John Holt,
The Fortunes,
The Victims,
Kenny Larkin,
Sixth Finger,
Nik Kershaw,
Joe Finger,
Rapeman,
Sällskapet,
Barrington Levy,
The Black Dice,
Leonard Cohen,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Whodini,
Archie Shepp,
The Mummies,
Amon Düül,
Can,
Los Fastidios,
L. Decosne,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Robert Wyatt,
Bluetip,
The Saints,
Sex Pistols,
Black Sheep,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Ice-T,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Young Rascals,
Second Layer,
Shoche,
The Count Five,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Peter & Gordon,
Theoretical Girls,
Gang Green,
Country Teasers,
Scott Walker,
One Last Wish,
The Divine Comedy,
E-Dancer,
Eurythmics,
Gregory Isaacs,
Saccharine Trust,
MDC,
The Litter,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Outsiders,
T.S.O.L.,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Pantytec,
The Dave Clark Five,
Harmonia, Harmonia, Harmonia, Harmonia.
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.