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 Montenegro and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 Michael McDonald 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 Ajijia Myrayebe to the funk 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 Colin Newman. All the underground hits.
All Max Romeo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Morten Harket record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Circle Jerks,
Rufus Thomas,
Suburban Knight,
The Offenders,
Delon & Dalcan,
Morten Harket,
Eyeless In Gaza,
James White and The Blacks,
The Fuzztones,
Fatback Band,
Grey Daturas,
Hardrive,
Tommy Roe,
Symarip,
F. McDonald,
the Swans,
Guru Guru,
The Gap Band,
Agitation Free,
The Standells,
Funkadelic,
Zapp,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Mark Hollis,
Neil Young,
The Knickerbockers,
Rosa Yemen,
Fad Gadget,
Sight & Sound,
Pagans,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Urselle,
The Stooges,
Icehouse,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Leaves,
Alton Ellis,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Cowsills,
Flamin' Groovies,
Barry Ungar,
John Foxx,
Aaron Thompson,
Bronski Beat,
In Retrospect,
Smog,
The Slits,
Bobby Byrd,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Ice-T,
The Trojans,
Japan,
Peter and Kerry,
Parry Music,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Brass Construction,
Kurtis Blow,
John Cale, John Cale, John Cale, John Cale.
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.