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 Nicaragua and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1963 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 Nile Rodgers 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 Mars to the funk 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 LL Cool J. All the underground hits.
All Iggy Pop tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultra Naté record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 guitar and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Qualms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Jacques Brel,
Agitation Free,
Public Enemy,
Nas,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Cure,
Neil Young,
X-101,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Robert Wyatt,
Fat Boys,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Eden Ahbez,
David McCallum,
Fela Kuti,
Fugazi,
Severed Heads,
ABC,
Roger Hodgson,
Minor Threat,
Peter and Kerry,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Traffic Nightmare,
Johnny Osbourne,
Khruangbin,
R.M.O.,
Saccharine Trust,
Yazoo,
Barry Ungar,
The Stooges,
Boredoms,
Panda Bear,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Fad Gadget,
The Misunderstood,
Man Eating Sloth,
Lyres,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Dave Gahan,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Martian,
MDC,
Main Source,
Prince Buster,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Cramps,
Porter Ricks,
Public Image Ltd.,
Boogie Down Productions,
the Sonics,
10cc,
Q and Not U,
the Swans,
Altered Images,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Wings,
Archie Shepp,
Pagans,
Glambeats Corp.,
June of 44,
The Dave Clark Five,
Swell Maps,
The Fortunes, The Fortunes, The Fortunes, The Fortunes.
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.