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 Iceland and from Mexico City.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 The Peanut Butter Conspiracy to the funk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Porter Ricks. All the underground hits.
All Marvin Gaye tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joe Finger record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marmalade record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Darondo,
Swell Maps,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Sparks,
The Flesh Eaters,
Michelle Simonal,
Aloha Tigers,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Alphaville,
Fatback Band,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Symarip,
Buzzcocks,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Junior Murvin,
Kevin Saunderson,
Alice Coltrane,
Theoretical Girls,
Urselle,
Ossler,
MDC,
Liliput,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Kool Moe Dee,
Wasted Youth,
The Litter,
Depeche Mode,
Scratch Acid,
Grauzone,
New Age Steppers,
Ronan,
Camberwell Now,
Gabor Szabo,
The Skatalites,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Iggy Pop,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Alarm Clocks,
Boogie Down Productions,
Man Eating Sloth,
Pantaleimon,
New York Dolls,
Bootsy Collins,
Johnny Osbourne,
Masters at Work,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
the Swans,
The Invisible,
Big Daddy Kane,
New Order,
Dennis Brown,
Bill Near,
The New Christs,
the Human League,
Ultra Naté,
John Coltrane, John Coltrane, John Coltrane, John Coltrane.
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.