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 Cuba and from Spokane.
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 1964 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in 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 Blancmange to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Selector Dub Narcotic. All the underground hits.
All Ponytail tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Scrapy 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Surgeon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Divine Comedy,
The Invisible,
The Seeds,
Quantec,
Johnny Osbourne,
Siglo XX,
Jawbox,
Brick,
Unwound,
The Martian,
The Litter,
Bobby Womack,
The Fortunes,
Pantytec,
Funky Four + One,
David McCallum,
Liliput,
Gabor Szabo,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Pylon,
Camouflage,
The Selecter,
Frankie Knuckles,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Alphaville,
Soul II Soul,
The Busters,
Albert Ayler,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Mummies,
Hoover,
The Shadows of Knight,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Intrusion,
Matthew Bourne,
Lalann,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Hot Snakes,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
the Germs,
The Last Poets,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Flash Fearless,
Pet Shop Boys,
Sandy B,
the Sonics,
Crooked Eye,
U.S. Maple,
Pierre Henry,
Grey Daturas,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Knickerbockers,
Gang Green,
Severed Heads,
Nick Fraelich,
Flamin' Groovies,
ABC,
Fat Boys,
Marshall Jefferson,
Amazonics, Amazonics, Amazonics, Amazonics.
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.