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 Eritrea and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 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 Sällskapet to the grunge kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Electric Light Orchestra. All the underground hits.
All Gang of Four tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Velvet Underground 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Spandau Ballet record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Knickerbockers,
Newcleus,
Fela Kuti,
Nik Kershaw,
Eric Copeland,
Joyce Sims,
Eric Dolphy,
Terry Callier,
Fat Boys,
kango's stein massive,
Symarip,
Harry Pussy,
Albert Ayler,
Nick Fraelich,
Sonny Sharrock,
Juan Atkins,
Eve St. Jones,
Accadde A,
the Fania All-Stars,
Cymande,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Modern Lovers,
The Gories,
The Moleskins,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Drexciya,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Delta 5,
The Misunderstood,
Public Image Ltd.,
Clear Light,
the Germs,
Big Daddy Kane,
Girls At Our Best!,
Lindisfarne,
F. McDonald,
Robert Wyatt,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Selecter,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Shadows of Knight,
Toni Rubio,
Barrington Levy,
Camberwell Now,
Faraquet,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Panda Bear,
Henry Cow,
Dave Gahan,
Barbara Tucker,
the Sonics,
Scratch Acid,
Wasted Youth,
Sun City Girls,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Underground Resistance,
Stiv Bators,
The Five Americans, The Five Americans, The Five Americans, The Five Americans.
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.