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 Estonia and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
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 Young Rascals to the crunk 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 Peter & Gordon. All the underground hits.
All Dead Boys tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kerri Chandler record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bob Dylan,
Crime,
Mad Mike,
Con Funk Shun,
Arcadia,
Symarip,
Ituana,
Vainqueur,
Roger Hodgson,
The Kinks,
The Human League,
Johnny Clarke,
Bobby Byrd,
Ornette Coleman,
One Last Wish,
The Remains,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Ralphi Rosario,
Technova,
Brand Nubian,
the Swans,
The Cure,
The Move,
Au Pairs,
Al Stewart,
The Mummies,
Sällskapet,
Delon & Dalcan,
Magazine,
Barrington Levy,
Malaria!,
Sandy B,
Quantec,
Glenn Branca,
Nick Fraelich,
Jesper Dahlback,
Altered Images,
Main Source,
Blossom Toes,
The American Breed,
the Association,
Khruangbin,
Das Ding,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Yaz,
Sight & Sound,
Flipper,
Pantaleimon,
Thee Headcoats,
Jerry's Kids,
Gabor Szabo,
Zapp,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Hardrive,
Tubeway Army,
the Slits,
the Fania All-Stars,
Nirvana,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Beau Brummels,
Dorothy Ashby,
Harry Pussy,
Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson.
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.