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 Mongolia and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 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 Depeche Mode to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Rufus Thomas. All the underground hits.
All Lakeside tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Siouxsie and the Banshees 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Chocolate Watch Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Patti Smith,
Barclay James Harvest,
Dennis Brown,
The Standells,
The Beau Brummels,
Magazine,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
The Moleskins,
Sarah Menescal,
Carl Craig,
These Immortal Souls,
Tomorrow,
The Residents,
Sun City Girls,
Sparks,
Skaos,
The Cramps,
Marshall Jefferson,
The Gories,
Judy Mowatt,
Johnny Clarke,
Franke,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Letta Mbulu,
Section 25,
Youth Brigade,
Stetsasonic,
L. Decosne,
Blossom Toes,
Leonard Cohen,
Public Enemy,
Terry Callier,
Bill Wells,
Josef K,
Jawbox,
Howard Jones,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Suicide,
Symarip,
Suburban Knight,
Colin Newman,
Gerry Rafferty,
Amon Düül,
Joensuu 1685,
Rakim,
Todd Terry,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Mummies,
Absolute Body Control,
the Swans,
Quadrant,
Pussy Galore,
John Lydon,
Thee Headcoats,
Crash Course in Science,
The Last Poets,
Brick,
Prince Buster,
Siglo XX, Siglo XX, Siglo XX, Siglo XX.
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.