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 France and from Manila.
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 1964 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Fortunes 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 Sunsets and Hearts. All the underground hits.
All Wally Richardson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Happenings record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sparks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Barbara Tucker,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Fatback Band,
Whodini,
Harpers Bizarre,
Fela Kuti,
Jacob Miller,
The Cosmic Jokers,
MDC,
Angry Samoans,
Yazoo,
Schoolly D,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Tremeloes,
Deakin,
Avey Tare,
Tres Demented,
Laurel Aitken,
The Five Americans,
Ornette Coleman,
The Music Machine,
Lou Reed,
Nils Olav,
Goldenarms,
Ice-T,
Eyeless In Gaza,
The Slits,
The Red Krayola,
Lou Christie,
Dead Boys,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Electric Prunes,
Brick,
Bang On A Can,
Bootsy Collins,
DJ Sneak,
Bobby Byrd,
Rosa Yemen,
Pantytec,
Adolescents,
Scrapy,
Outsiders,
Magazine,
Wally Richardson,
Niagra,
The Techniques,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Anthony Braxton,
The Doors,
the Fania All-Stars,
Depeche Mode,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Fortunes,
The Last Poets,
Glenn Branca,
The Walker Brothers,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Ralphi Rosario, Ralphi Rosario, Ralphi Rosario, Ralphi Rosario.
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.