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 Kyrgyzstan and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Mary Jane Girls to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Swans. All the underground hits.
All The Detroit Cobras tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bobby Byrd record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Josef K record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Motorama,
Hashim,
Blake Baxter,
the Human League,
One Last Wish,
The Remains,
Pet Shop Boys,
ABBA,
Donny Hathaway,
Crooked Eye,
Donald Byrd,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Eurythmics,
Rufus Thomas,
Rosa Yemen,
Nas,
Quando Quango,
Jimmy McGriff,
DJ Sneak,
Loose Ends,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bobby Womack,
Pulsallama,
Pere Ubu,
Matthew Halsall,
The Pretty Things,
Ludus,
Soft Machine,
Camberwell Now,
Johnny Clarke,
Traffic Nightmare,
James Chance & The Contortions,
8 Eyed Spy,
Von Mondo,
Stockholm Monsters,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Malaria!,
48th St. Collective,
A Certain Ratio,
the Slits,
Scott Walker,
Radiopuhelimet,
Colin Newman,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Names,
The Flesh Eaters,
Underground Resistance,
The Move,
Buzzcocks,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
H. Thieme,
Sly & The Family Stone,
F. McDonald,
U.S. Maple,
Eden Ahbez,
The Cure,
Intrusion,
Curtis Mayfield,
Todd Terry,
PIL,
Graham Central Station,
the Swans,
Robert Hood, Robert Hood, Robert Hood, Robert Hood.
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.