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 Lithuania 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 1969 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 Ultra Naté to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Bang on a Can All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All a-ha tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mad Mike record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 spring reverb and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cecil Taylor record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Japan,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Judy Mowatt,
Dark Day,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The Moleskins,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Hardrive,
Surgeon,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Banda Bassotti,
Brothers Johnson,
The Gun Club,
Absolute Body Control,
Letta Mbulu,
The Kinks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
John Holt,
Amon Düül II,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Electric Prunes,
Sonic Youth,
The Modern Lovers,
Skriet,
Blake Baxter,
Grauzone,
David McCallum,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Scan 7,
Vladislav Delay,
Liliput,
Franke,
JFA,
Second Layer,
Kool Moe Dee,
Suicide,
The Fortunes,
The Seeds,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Star Department,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Crash Course in Science,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Panda Bear,
Guru Guru,
Bang On A Can,
The Techniques,
Barbara Tucker,
Animal Collective,
Negative Approach,
Rapeman,
Jandek,
The Litter,
June Days,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Harpers Bizarre,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Juan Atkins,
The Smiths,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
H. Thieme,
Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt.
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.