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 Benin and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Woodstock.
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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Barbara Tucker to the funk 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 The Skatalites. All the underground hits.
All Blake Baxter tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sonic Youth 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Negative Approach record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pussy Galore,
Archie Shepp,
Minnie Riperton,
ABBA,
Public Enemy,
Slave,
Section 25,
Arab on Radar,
Joey Negro,
The Black Dice,
Andrew Hill,
Camberwell Now,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Gregory Isaacs,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Gong,
X-101,
Pantaleimon,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Cal Tjader,
Jerry's Kids,
David Axelrod,
Rosa Yemen,
The Monochrome Set,
Model 500,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Quantec,
Loose Ends,
Vainqueur,
Los Fastidios,
The Birthday Party,
Donny Hathaway,
Neil Young,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Lightning Bolt,
Technova,
Dennis Brown,
Wasted Youth,
Bronski Beat,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Stereo Dub,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Raincoats,
Ralphi Rosario,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Derrick Morgan,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Sonics,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Aural Exciters,
Pagans,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Laurel Aitken,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Cosmic Jokers,
The Motions,
U.S. Maple,
Cybotron,
Von Mondo, Von Mondo, Von Mondo, Von Mondo.
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.