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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Tropical Tobacco to the rock 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 Ossler. All the underground hits.
All Scan 7 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Massinfluence record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 harpsichord and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sonic Youth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The New Christs,
Sister Nancy,
Youth Brigade,
Howard Jones,
La Düsseldorf,
Bad Manners,
Soulsonic Force,
Neil Young,
Warsaw,
The Sonics,
Pere Ubu,
Minnie Riperton,
the Bar-Kays,
Archie Shepp,
Pussy Galore,
Flipper,
cv313,
Freddie Wadling,
Cecil Taylor,
Nils Olav,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Sun Ra,
Robert Wyatt,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
the Fania All-Stars,
Kevin Saunderson,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Monochrome Set,
The Modern Lovers,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Buzzcocks,
The Stooges,
DJ Sneak,
The Fuzztones,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Happenings,
Robert Görl,
Babytalk,
Anthony Braxton,
Ice-T,
Altered Images,
CMW,
Saccharine Trust,
Easy Going,
Mark Hollis,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Amon Düül,
8 Eyed Spy,
Yusef Lateef,
Quantec,
X-101,
X-Ray Spex,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Radio Birdman,
Kerri Chandler,
Symarip,
The Slits,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
E-Dancer,
Roger Hodgson,
Lightning Bolt,
Ossler,
Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville.
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.