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 Haiti and from Tehran.
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 1961 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Rhythm & Sound to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Aloha Tigers. All the underground hits.
All The American Breed tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott Heron record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 mellotron and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Vainqueur record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mad Mike,
New York Dolls,
Patti Smith,
Aural Exciters,
Unwound,
Barbara Tucker,
The Knickerbockers,
Mandrill,
Crash Course in Science,
Sarah Menescal,
Magma,
Gang Green,
Marc Almond,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Fatback Band,
Pussy Galore,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Associates,
Fad Gadget,
Radiohead,
The Sound,
Albert Ayler,
Soul Sonic Force,
Agitation Free,
Jandek,
Colin Newman,
Nick Fraelich,
Bauhaus,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Bobby Womack,
A Certain Ratio,
Japan,
Amazonics,
The Human League,
The Tremeloes,
Suicide,
Gabor Szabo,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Bizarre Inc.,
Eric Dolphy,
Lou Christie,
R.M.O.,
Visage,
Basic Channel,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Skatalites,
The Raincoats,
Scott Walker,
Josef K,
Groovy Waters,
Q and Not U,
Country Teasers,
Jacques Brel,
Pharoah Sanders,
Arthur Verocai,
Absolute Body Control,
Urselle,
Adolescents,
Howard Jones,
Eurythmics,
The Index,
Alton Ellis,
New Order,
David McCallum,
Bluetip, Bluetip, Bluetip, Bluetip.
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.