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 Iraq and from Lagos.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 chamberlin 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 Albert Ayler to the funk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 the Human League. All the underground hits.
All Sam Rivers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wolf Eyes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Doors,
Josef K,
Au Pairs,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Drexciya,
Marshall Jefferson,
Circle Jerks,
The Fortunes,
Interpol,
Joe Finger,
Ronnie Foster,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Aswad,
Animal Collective,
Soft Cell,
Marvin Gaye,
Newcleus,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Delta 5,
Make Up,
Kaleidoscope,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Sister Nancy,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Music Machine,
Joensuu 1685,
Los Fastidios,
Danielle Patucci,
AZ,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Rakim,
Roxy Music,
Kool Moe Dee,
Sex Pistols,
The Martian,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Stiv Bators,
Pere Ubu,
Black Sheep,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Birthday Party,
The Associates,
The Red Krayola,
Magma,
Albert Ayler,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Godley & Creme,
Ronan,
Lou Christie,
Eric Dolphy,
Yusef Lateef,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Wake,
Fear,
Fatback Band,
The Slits,
Wolf Eyes,
Agent Orange,
Minnie Riperton,
Quadrant,
Skaos, Skaos, Skaos, Skaos.
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.