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 Guinea-Bissau and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1960 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Stiv Bators to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Slits. All the underground hits.
All Mark Hollis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an oboe 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 guitar and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Aural Exciters,
Frankie Knuckles,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
the Germs,
Tom Boy,
The Gladiators,
Yaz,
Ohio Players,
Sun Ra,
Bad Manners,
Pussy Galore,
Stiv Bators,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Lou Christie,
Public Image Ltd.,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
John Cale,
Brand Nubian,
Zero Boys,
The Fuzztones,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Vladislav Delay,
Slick Rick,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Cameo,
Wings,
Oblivians,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Underground Resistance,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Radiopuhelimet,
Rosa Yemen,
Swell Maps,
Pierre Henry,
China Crisis,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Marshall Jefferson,
Cal Tjader,
The Gun Club,
Guru Guru,
Nico,
Lalann,
The Black Dice,
Marvin Gaye,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Television Personalities,
KRS-One,
Liliput,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Audionom,
Funkadelic,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Chris Corsano,
Blake Baxter,
F. McDonald,
The Martian,
Porter Ricks,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Warsaw,
Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey, Chris & Cosey.
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.