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 Cape Verde and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 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 The Remains to the grime kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam. All the underground hits.
All Technova tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Radiopuhelimet record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Selector Dub Narcotic record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rod Modell,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
DJ Sneak,
Y Pants,
The Fire Engines,
Organ,
Excepter,
The Barracudas,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Residents,
The Skatalites,
Tommy Roe,
Kool Moe Dee,
Con Funk Shun,
The Gun Club,
John Holt,
Albert Ayler,
Lou Christie,
The Star Department,
The Wake,
Silicon Teens,
Niagra,
Second Layer,
Flamin' Groovies,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Faraquet,
Lee Hazlewood,
Scott Walker,
Pulsallama,
The Names,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Ten City,
Ohio Players,
Gang of Four,
Maleditus Sound,
Los Fastidios,
DNA,
Moby Grape,
The Dave Clark Five,
The American Breed,
The Zeros,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Make Up,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Scan 7,
Altered Images,
The Shadows of Knight,
Alice Coltrane,
Newcleus,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Evens,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Seeds,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Modern Lovers,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Pussy Galore,
Animal Collective,
Jeru the Damaja,
Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop.
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.