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 Somalia and from Hong Kong.
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 1968 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the güiro 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 Slave to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 John Foxx. All the underground hits.
All The Divine Comedy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every EPMD record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Mighty Diamonds,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Arab on Radar,
Sex Pistols,
The Remains,
Donald Byrd,
Index,
Tropical Tobacco,
These Immortal Souls,
David Axelrod,
Cameo,
Eli Mardock,
The Raincoats,
Yellowson,
Scrapy,
Wings,
Liliput,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Black Sheep,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Smiths,
The Victims,
Robert Wyatt,
Alice Coltrane,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Cheater Slicks,
Chrome,
Clear Light,
Toni Rubio,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Mad Mike,
Cybotron,
Fluxion,
B.T. Express,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Gabor Szabo,
Derrick May,
Q65,
Curtis Mayfield,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Count Five,
Lalo Schifrin,
Public Image Ltd.,
Ornette Coleman,
Spoonie Gee,
X-102,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The New Christs,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
The Dead C,
Faust,
Godley & Creme,
The Dave Clark Five,
Yaz,
the Sonics,
Easy Going,
Swans,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Tears for Fears,
Davy DMX,
Stockholm Monsters,
Cymande,
The Vogues, The Vogues, The Vogues, The Vogues.
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.