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 Malaysia and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 rap kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Public Enemy. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Organ record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gregory Isaacs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
London Community Gospel Choir,
Hot Snakes,
Moss Icon,
Pylon,
Camouflage,
Warren Ellis,
Mission of Burma,
Girls At Our Best!,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Residents,
Bang On A Can,
Barbara Tucker,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Yusef Lateef,
Hasil Adkins,
Michelle Simonal,
Japan,
Groovy Waters,
Eden Ahbez,
ABBA,
These Immortal Souls,
Radiohead,
the Soft Cell,
Second Layer,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Monks,
Lyres,
Barrington Levy,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Mo-Dettes,
Don Cherry,
The Busters,
Bronski Beat,
The Raincoats,
Eve St. Jones,
The Names,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Archie Shepp,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Nas,
Howard Jones,
Crash Course in Science,
Television Personalities,
The Smoke,
Trumans Water,
Bill Wells,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Music Machine,
Jeff Lynne,
Skaos,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Lower 48,
Eric B and Rakim,
Easy Going,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Loose Ends,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Angels of Light,
Marcia Griffiths,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Los Fastidios, Los Fastidios, Los Fastidios, Los Fastidios.
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.