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 Brunei and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the clarinet 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 John Holt to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Black Bananas. All the underground hits.
All the Bar-Kays tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Manfred Mann's Earth Band 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Wings record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Marvin Gaye,
Colin Newman,
Flamin' Groovies,
Negative Approach,
Tres Demented,
8 Eyed Spy,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Whodini,
Byron Stingily,
The Divine Comedy,
Sarah Menescal,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Monochrome Set,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Rhythm & Sound,
Echospace,
John Holt,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Happenings,
Das Ding,
Isaac Hayes,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Youth Brigade,
Traffic Nightmare,
Jeff Mills,
AZ,
The Litter,
The Seeds,
The Gun Club,
Circle Jerks,
PIL,
Scion,
Clear Light,
Ultravox,
Eric B and Rakim,
Crime,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Deadbeat,
Swans,
Heaven 17,
Sexual Harrassment,
Agitation Free,
Todd Rundgren,
Zapp,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Lebanon Hanover,
Ossler,
The Grass Roots,
The Monks,
New Order,
Michelle Simonal,
T.S.O.L.,
Patti Smith,
Lou Reed,
X-101,
Fatback Band,
June of 44,
China Crisis, China Crisis, China Crisis, China Crisis.
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.