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 Honduras and from Woodstock.
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 1968 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Quando Quango to the punk 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 Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish. All the underground hits.
All Unwound tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Country Joe & The Fish 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Monochrome Set record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dorothy Ashby,
Henry Cow,
Letta Mbulu,
The Trojans,
The Index,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Skarface,
Cheater Slicks,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Man Parrish,
X-Ray Spex,
Rhythm & Sound,
Bobby Byrd,
The Slackers,
Marmalade,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Ice-T,
One Last Wish,
DNA,
Vladislav Delay,
Fela Kuti,
Buzzcocks,
Altered Images,
Avey Tare,
Adolescents,
David Axelrod,
The Vogues,
Marshall Jefferson,
Sister Nancy,
Nico,
T. Rex,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Wake,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Technova,
Clear Light,
Eric Copeland,
Kool Moe Dee,
EPMD,
Pussy Galore,
Max Romeo,
Skaos,
The Motions,
Bad Manners,
New York Dolls,
The Fall,
David McCallum,
Lucky Dragons,
Swell Maps,
8 Eyed Spy,
Crime,
Supertramp,
Jimmy McGriff,
the Human League,
Ronan,
Kerrie Biddell,
Qualms,
Cecil Taylor,
The Gun Club,
Throbbing Gristle,
Banda Bassotti,
Niagra,
Matthew Halsall, Matthew Halsall, Matthew Halsall, Matthew Halsall.
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.