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 Honduras and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Bologna.
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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the theremin 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 Nation of Ulysses to the grime kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Harpers Bizarre. All the underground hits.
All Y Pants tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Residents record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 sitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jerry's Kids record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Whodini,
Scrapy,
June of 44,
Alphaville,
Drive Like Jehu,
Todd Terry,
Sight & Sound,
a-ha,
The Birthday Party,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Dave Gahan,
The Divine Comedy,
Television,
Procol Harum,
Joe Smooth,
Public Enemy,
the Sonics,
Massinfluence,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Mars,
Quadrant,
Bauhaus,
Desert Stars,
Gang Starr,
Au Pairs,
Sällskapet,
Goldenarms,
Yazoo,
Bob Dylan,
The Kinks,
the Soft Cell,
Roy Ayers,
The Neon Judgement,
The Fugs,
Moebius,
Terry Callier,
The Busters,
DNA,
Juan Atkins,
Cecil Taylor,
Alton Ellis,
The Happenings,
Animal Collective,
Lindisfarne,
Eve St. Jones,
Swell Maps,
Letta Mbulu,
The Misunderstood,
Darondo,
The Searchers,
F. McDonald,
Lyres,
Nik Kershaw,
Todd Rundgren,
Fat Boys,
Swans,
Von Mondo,
Metal Thangz, Metal Thangz, Metal Thangz, Metal Thangz.
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.