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 Vanuatu and from Shanghai.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the snare 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 The Velvet Underground. All the underground hits.
All Stereo Dub tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Qualms record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Barracudas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Brothers Johnson,
48th St. Collective,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Angry Samoans,
Tomorrow,
Laurel Aitken,
Boz Scaggs,
LL Cool J,
Derrick Morgan,
Terrestrial Tones,
Clear Light,
Johnny Clarke,
The Young Rascals,
Radio Birdman,
F. McDonald,
Sex Pistols,
Barrington Levy,
Aaron Thompson,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Fear,
Sparks,
Swans,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Nick Fraelich,
Spandau Ballet,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
B.T. Express,
Sight & Sound,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Cecil Taylor,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
John Cale,
Stiv Bators,
Black Sheep,
Zero Boys,
Jandek,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Blake Baxter,
Funkadelic,
Fugazi,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Tears for Fears,
The Star Department,
Jesper Dahlback,
Arcadia,
In Retrospect,
Rhythm & Sound,
E-Dancer,
June of 44,
The Five Americans,
Quando Quango,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Wasted Youth,
Saccharine Trust,
Soul Sonic Force,
Thompson Twins,
Todd Rundgren,
Frankie Knuckles,
Rekid,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats.
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.