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 Poland and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 clarinet 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 Royal Trux to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Ajijia Myrayebe. All the underground hits.
All In Retrospect tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Manfred Mann's Earth Band record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sad Lovers and Giants record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Unrelated Segments,
Con Funk Shun,
the Association,
Hoover,
Tomorrow,
Roxy Music,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Joensuu 1685,
Crime,
Pulsallama,
Lalo Schifrin,
Rakim,
X-102,
Minutemen,
Roxette,
Gil Scott Heron,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Rhythm & Sound,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Kas Product,
The Toasters,
Dead Boys,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Soul II Soul,
Echospace,
Janne Schatter,
Scott Walker,
Sällskapet,
The Black Dice,
The Victims,
The Star Department,
Barbara Tucker,
Gang Green,
John Coltrane,
Stetsasonic,
The Gun Club,
Urselle,
The Selecter,
Jeff Mills,
Eden Ahbez,
Minnie Riperton,
T. Rex,
Lebanon Hanover,
Desert Stars,
Guru Guru,
Sugar Minott,
Soul Sonic Force,
Ralphi Rosario,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Boogie Down Productions,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
LL Cool J,
Ornette Coleman,
Khruangbin,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Move,
Gong,
Bobby Byrd,
The Raincoats, The Raincoats, The Raincoats, The Raincoats.
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.