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 Qatar and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 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 Idris Muhammad to the funk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Von Mondo. All the underground hits.
All Scrapy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Boogie Down Productions record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a guitar 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 oboe and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Colin Newman,
K-Klass,
Funkadelic,
Michelle Simonal,
Lalo Schifrin,
Maurizio,
F. McDonald,
Pantaleimon,
Deadbeat,
Banda Bassotti,
Jacques Brel,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
The Doors,
Gerry Rafferty,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Bootsy Collins,
Royal Trux,
Cluster,
Schoolly D,
Country Teasers,
Howard Jones,
Y Pants,
The Young Rascals,
Todd Terry,
The Blues Magoos,
Neu!,
Erasure,
New York Dolls,
Second Layer,
Skriet,
Brand Nubian,
The Misunderstood,
Infiniti,
Monks,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Techniques,
the Association,
Hoover,
Organ,
Iggy Pop,
Babytalk,
Wasted Youth,
The Birthday Party,
Ultra Naté,
Donny Hathaway,
Fear,
Deepchord,
Althea and Donna,
The Durutti Column,
Patti Smith,
Dave Gahan,
Con Funk Shun,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Ornette Coleman,
The Velvet Underground,
Anthony Braxton,
Byron Stingily,
Joensuu 1685,
Wings,
Stockholm Monsters,
Faraquet, Faraquet, Faraquet, Faraquet.
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.