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 Costa Rica and from Johannesburg.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Accra.
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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Amon Düül to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Glambeats Corp.. All the underground hits.
All Mark Hollis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Eric Dolphy 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mary Jane Girls,
Sonny Sharrock,
Lyres,
Agent Orange,
Idris Muhammad,
Graham Central Station,
Public Image Ltd.,
Crime,
The Golliwogs,
Dennis Brown,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Amon Düül,
Slave,
Guru Guru,
MC5,
Q65,
the Germs,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Durutti Column,
The Seeds,
Gang of Four,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Eli Mardock,
Soft Machine,
Ludus,
Alton Ellis,
The Slits,
Desert Stars,
This Heat,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Spoonie Gee,
Blossom Toes,
Anakelly,
AZ,
Joensuu 1685,
Deepchord,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Smoke,
Godley & Creme,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Minutemen,
Arthur Verocai,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Chrome,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Drive Like Jehu,
Mission of Burma,
Cal Tjader,
The Raincoats,
Prince Buster,
Colin Newman,
Cybotron,
The Fortunes,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Gories,
Junior Murvin,
R.M.O.,
Procol Harum,
Charles Mingus,
Model 500,
Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen.
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.