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 Japan and from Beijing.
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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 United States of America to the punk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 H. Thieme. All the underground hits.
All Bobby Womack tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lower 48 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Black Bananas,
Loose Ends,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Suburban Knight,
Severed Heads,
Brick,
Aural Exciters,
MC5,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Invisible,
Echospace,
Alison Limerick,
Brothers Johnson,
Bush Tetras,
Henry Cow,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Pagans,
Terry Callier,
Negative Approach,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Visage,
Bob Dylan,
The Doobie Brothers,
Niagra,
Ludus,
Marvin Gaye,
U.S. Maple,
B.T. Express,
Unrelated Segments,
L. Decosne,
Oblivians,
Nirvana,
Darondo,
E-Dancer,
Roy Ayers,
a-ha,
DJ Style,
Pantaleimon,
Harry Pussy,
The Slits,
Nils Olav,
Gil Scott Heron,
The American Breed,
Slick Rick,
Stiv Bators,
Crash Course in Science,
Skriet,
Slave,
Subhumans,
Surgeon,
Moss Icon,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Jeff Mills,
In Retrospect,
Saccharine Trust,
Tears for Fears,
The Neon Judgement,
Excepter,
Rakim, Rakim, Rakim, Rakim.
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.