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 Bhutan and from Philadelphia.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Whodini to the crunk 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 Gary Puckett & The Union Gap. All the underground hits.
All Cheater Slicks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Radio Birdman record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 sitar and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Flesh Eaters record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Vogues,
Lee Hazlewood,
Guru Guru,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Prince Buster,
The Shadows of Knight,
Wings,
Khruangbin,
Throbbing Gristle,
Mr. Review,
Bill Wells,
James White and The Blacks,
the Association,
The Dave Clark Five,
Flash Fearless,
The Cure,
Basic Channel,
Eurythmics,
The Gladiators,
Jimmy McGriff,
Stiv Bators,
The Angels of Light,
Blancmange,
Tropical Tobacco,
The J.B.'s,
Toni Rubio,
The Red Krayola,
Eve St. Jones,
T.S.O.L.,
Robert Wyatt,
The Beau Brummels,
Qualms,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Index,
Ornette Coleman,
The Cowsills,
Piero Umiliani,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Alton Ellis,
Porter Ricks,
Lalo Schifrin,
Kaleidoscope,
Siglo XX,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Dawn Penn,
New Age Steppers,
Von Mondo,
Ludus,
Matthew Halsall,
Outsiders,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Althea and Donna,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Moleskins,
Neil Young,
Todd Rundgren,
Bauhaus,
Sixth Finger,
The Evens, The Evens, The Evens, The Evens.
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.