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 Tuvalu and from Toronto.
But I was there.
I was there in 1980.
I was there at the first Cybotron show in Detroit.
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 Glasgow and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 clarinet 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 Bootsy's Rubber Band to the techno kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Ossler. All the underground hits.
All Janne Schatter tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bill Wells record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 an arpeggiator and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang On A Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tim Buckley,
Lindisfarne,
La Düsseldorf,
Anakelly,
Eden Ahbez,
D'Angelo,
The Music Machine,
Janne Schatter,
a-ha,
Buzzcocks,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Grass Roots,
The Dave Clark Five,
Cluster,
The Vogues,
Gregory Isaacs,
Newcleus,
Gang of Four,
The Cure,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Adolescents,
Wolf Eyes,
In Retrospect,
Bang On A Can,
Matthew Bourne,
Don Cherry,
The Birthday Party,
The Trojans,
Maurizio,
Gang Green,
The Five Americans,
Kayak,
Cameo,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Standells,
Public Enemy,
David Axelrod,
The Toasters,
Lou Christie,
Jacob Miller,
Motorama,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Aloha Tigers,
Gang Gang Dance,
Bauhaus,
Theoretical Girls,
Tommy Roe,
Pagans,
Country Teasers,
Nick Fraelich,
Albert Ayler,
Yellowson,
Barrington Levy,
The Young Rascals,
Parry Music,
Lower 48,
Rhythm & Sound,
E-Dancer,
Camberwell Now,
The Pop Group,
The Gladiators, The Gladiators, The Gladiators, The Gladiators.
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.