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 East Timor and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Delhi.
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 theremin 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 Sun City Girls to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 ABBA. All the underground hits.
All Reagan Youth tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Mummies record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a A Certain Ratio record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June Days,
Depeche Mode,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
the Association,
The Divine Comedy,
Fat Boys,
Niagra,
JFA,
Slick Rick,
The Knickerbockers,
Parry Music,
Anakelly,
Bang On A Can,
Jeff Lynne,
Shuggie Otis,
Deakin,
Babytalk,
Iggy Pop,
The Dirtbombs,
Flipper,
ABC,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Lebanon Hanover,
the Germs,
FM Einheit,
Shoche,
Lindisfarne,
The Leaves,
Sonic Youth,
Camberwell Now,
Joey Negro,
the Swans,
Fugazi,
The Busters,
The Skatalites,
Second Layer,
Ituana,
OOIOO,
Kerri Chandler,
The Dead C,
The Evens,
Basic Channel,
Eden Ahbez,
The Shadows of Knight,
Connie Case,
Alphaville,
a-ha,
Joe Finger,
Lyres,
Funkadelic,
Ponytail,
Jacques Brel,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Detroit Cobras,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Model 500,
The Residents,
Soulsonic Force,
Eddi Front,
Grey Daturas,
Jandek,
The Red Krayola, The Red Krayola, The Red Krayola, The Red Krayola.
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.