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 Serbia and from Lille.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the 808 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 Bang on a Can All-Stars to the techno kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Isaac Hayes. All the underground hits.
All Glenn Branca tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Idris Muhammad 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Shuggie Otis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fire Engines,
Dead Boys,
the Bar-Kays,
Skriet,
Wings,
Peter & Gordon,
Johnny Clarke,
Rotary Connection,
Nick Fraelich,
Ossler,
Sugar Minott,
Jawbox,
Aaron Thompson,
Altered Images,
Sällskapet,
The Associates,
Michelle Simonal,
Tubeway Army,
The Fugs,
Soul II Soul,
Piero Umiliani,
Blancmange,
David McCallum,
Ponytail,
Country Teasers,
Television,
Desert Stars,
Agitation Free,
Harry Pussy,
OOIOO,
Iggy Pop,
Kerri Chandler,
Matthew Bourne,
Roxette,
The Fortunes,
Bluetip,
Howard Jones,
X-102,
Stereo Dub,
Glenn Branca,
Hoover,
The Five Americans,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Amon Düül II,
The Divine Comedy,
Flamin' Groovies,
Ice-T,
Amon Düül,
the Soft Cell,
Robert Wyatt,
Letta Mbulu,
Tears for Fears,
Yaz,
Joe Finger,
CMW,
Jimmy McGriff,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Davy DMX,
Royal Trux,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Black Sheep,
Jacob Miller,
Sandy B, Sandy B, Sandy B, Sandy B.
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.