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 China and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Gories to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Davy DMX. All the underground hits.
All Soulsonic Force tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Trojans 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jandek record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dawn Penn,
Roxette,
Warsaw,
Circle Jerks,
Throbbing Gristle,
Sarah Menescal,
Marcia Griffiths,
Angry Samoans,
Nils Olav,
The Red Krayola,
Minny Pops,
The Buckinghams,
Terry Callier,
Tears for Fears,
Bob Dylan,
Blossom Toes,
Popol Vuh,
Crooked Eye,
The Pretty Things,
Glenn Branca,
Cameo,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Eddi Front,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
T. Rex,
Minor Threat,
Kerri Chandler,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Peter & Gordon,
The Litter,
John Cale,
Nico,
Massinfluence,
Drexciya,
Ultra Naté,
The Names,
Kas Product,
Josef K,
Erykah Badu,
10cc,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Walker Brothers,
Gabor Szabo,
The Skatalites,
Thompson Twins,
the Human League,
Peter and Kerry,
Neu!,
Minutemen,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Crispian St. Peters,
Mars,
Lalo Schifrin,
U.S. Maple,
Television,
Q and Not U,
Yaz,
Warren Ellis,
John Holt,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Harry Pussy, Harry Pussy, Harry Pussy, Harry Pussy.
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.