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 Mali and from Mumbai.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the theremin 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 Wings to the rap kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Quantec. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott Heron tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Spandau Ballet record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 marimba and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Graham Central Station record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nik Kershaw,
the Normal,
Panda Bear,
Scan 7,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Mandrill,
Josef K,
Curtis Mayfield,
10cc,
Blossom Toes,
The Gladiators,
Jerry's Kids,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Radiopuhelimet,
Y Pants,
Dorothy Ashby,
Donald Byrd,
Pere Ubu,
Pylon,
Japan,
Amon Düül,
Delta 5,
Sexual Harrassment,
Skriet,
Crispy Ambulance,
Faraquet,
Lou Christie,
Sixth Finger,
Technova,
The Gap Band,
Henry Cow,
Audionom,
X-101,
ABC,
The Toasters,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Fatback Band,
Tom Boy,
Scion,
Chris & Cosey,
One Last Wish,
Lakeside,
The Durutti Column,
Marine Girls,
Bang On A Can,
Agent Orange,
Faust,
Negative Approach,
Sandy B,
Brick,
The Seeds,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Scratch Acid,
DJ Style,
Shuggie Otis,
Whodini,
Ohio Players,
Second Layer,
Aloha Tigers,
Saccharine Trust,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Five Americans,
Gastr Del Sol, Gastr Del Sol, Gastr Del Sol, Gastr Del Sol.
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.