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 Mozambique and from Houston.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 Michael McDonald 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 Arcadia to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All Rites of Spring tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Buzzcocks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Babytalk,
Alice Coltrane,
Von Mondo,
Sex Pistols,
John Foxx,
The Misunderstood,
World's Most,
Goldenarms,
The Smiths,
Gregory Isaacs,
Tim Buckley,
The Golliwogs,
The Vogues,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Dorothy Ashby,
Aloha Tigers,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Blackbyrds,
Visage,
the Soft Cell,
Procol Harum,
Dead Boys,
Bronski Beat,
Scan 7,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Knickerbockers,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Al Stewart,
Gil Scott Heron,
Ossler,
Easy Going,
Model 500,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Max Romeo,
The Invisible,
Grey Daturas,
New York Dolls,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
X-Ray Spex,
Joe Finger,
Absolute Body Control,
Scrapy,
The Stooges,
Fad Gadget,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Hot Snakes,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Banda Bassotti,
Motorama,
The Techniques,
Ituana,
Mark Hollis,
Reuben Wilson,
Silicon Teens,
Animal Collective, Animal Collective, Animal Collective, Animal Collective.
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.