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 Kosovo and from Salvador.
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 1962 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 mellotron 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 Ultra Naté to the electroclash 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 Bootsy's Rubber Band. All the underground hits.
All Brass Construction tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Flesh Eaters 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Lydon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alton Ellis,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Hot Snakes,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
R.M.O.,
Audionom,
Little Man,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Gories,
Morten Harket,
Juan Atkins,
Cal Tjader,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Slackers,
Mo-Dettes,
Jeff Lynne,
The Techniques,
Fela Kuti,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Derrick Morgan,
Duran Duran,
Davy DMX,
Tubeway Army,
Johnny Osbourne,
Sexual Harrassment,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Byron Stingily,
Anthony Braxton,
Alison Limerick,
the Soft Cell,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Agent Orange,
Iggy Pop,
PIL,
Unrelated Segments,
Joey Negro,
MDC,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Lucky Dragons,
Jerry's Kids,
Susan Cadogan,
Pussy Galore,
The Divine Comedy,
Japan,
Marcia Griffiths,
Marvin Gaye,
Sun Ra,
Jimmy McGriff,
Gang Starr,
Buzzcocks,
Boz Scaggs,
Don Cherry,
The Cure,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Pharoah Sanders,
Nas,
the Slits,
Chris & Cosey,
Isaac Hayes,
Lalann,
Thee Headcoats,
Kerri Chandler,
The Angels of Light, The Angels of Light, The Angels of Light, The Angels of Light.
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.