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 East Timor and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Kings Of Tomorrow to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Pole. All the underground hits.
All Agent Orange tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultramagnetic MC's record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an organ 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 clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scrapy,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
PIL,
Erykah Badu,
Banda Bassotti,
Alice Coltrane,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Au Pairs,
Juan Atkins,
Flipper,
Roxy Music,
The Monks,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Section 25,
Con Funk Shun,
Deepchord,
The Young Rascals,
The Electric Prunes,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Jeff Mills,
D'Angelo,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Marmalade,
Sight & Sound,
Rosa Yemen,
The Knickerbockers,
Circle Jerks,
10cc,
The Sound,
The Leaves,
In Retrospect,
Symarip,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
A Certain Ratio,
Radiohead,
Avey Tare,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
the Sonics,
Eric Dolphy,
The Cramps,
Gichy Dan,
Tomorrow,
Thompson Twins,
Chris Corsano,
Panda Bear,
Thee Headcoats,
Peter & Gordon,
Rufus Thomas,
The Black Dice,
Boredoms,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Lungfish,
Marvin Gaye,
Reuben Wilson,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Ohio Players,
Bang On A Can,
Wasted Youth,
Delta 5,
Duran Duran,
cv313,
MDC,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Frankie Knuckles, Frankie Knuckles, Frankie Knuckles, Frankie Knuckles.
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.