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 Panama and from Mexico City.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Traffic Nightmare to the grunge 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 Rekid. All the underground hits.
All The Sisters of Mercy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cabaret Voltaire record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Spoonie Gee,
Dennis Brown,
Scratch Acid,
Kas Product,
Bob Dylan,
Quadrant,
Kaleidoscope,
Wolf Eyes,
Colin Newman,
Lou Reed,
the Germs,
One Last Wish,
Sound Behaviour,
Josef K,
Motorama,
The United States of America,
Massinfluence,
cv313,
Con Funk Shun,
Faust,
Flash Fearless,
Deadbeat,
Cheater Slicks,
China Crisis,
Lou Christie,
Althea and Donna,
Bill Near,
The Selecter,
Fad Gadget,
Duran Duran,
Sarah Menescal,
Soul Sonic Force,
Johnny Clarke,
Mandrill,
L. Decosne,
8 Eyed Spy,
Judy Mowatt,
Soft Machine,
Beasts of Bourbon,
James White and The Blacks,
X-101,
Black Moon,
Porter Ricks,
Bill Wells,
Sam Rivers,
New York Dolls,
Sight & Sound,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Lindisfarne,
Blancmange,
Quando Quango,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Swans,
Delon & Dalcan,
Thee Headcoats,
Boogie Down Productions,
Desert Stars,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Aaron Thompson,
Ralphi Rosario,
Rod Modell,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Eurythmics,
Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen.
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.