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 Benin and from Accra.
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 1963 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 linndrum 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 The Sisters of Mercy to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Pulsallama. All the underground hits.
All Pet Shop Boys tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Janne Schatter record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Negative Approach,
Juan Atkins,
The Detroit Cobras,
Nas,
Lungfish,
Popol Vuh,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Symarip,
In Retrospect,
Lalann,
Janne Schatter,
Ohio Players,
the Germs,
The Gories,
Pantytec,
Royal Trux,
Sällskapet,
The Gap Band,
Sixth Finger,
Ultimate Spinach,
Cluster,
Unrelated Segments,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Supertramp,
Skriet,
Gang Gang Dance,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Cowsills,
Pharoah Sanders,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Sparks,
The Remains,
DNA,
F. McDonald,
Shoche,
Quando Quango,
Frankie Knuckles,
Nirvana,
The Toasters,
Fifty Foot Hose,
The Beau Brummels,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Aaron Thompson,
Sexual Harrassment,
Pulsallama,
Delon & Dalcan,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Cramps,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Bobby Hutcherson,
The Dirtbombs,
Wolf Eyes,
Gregory Isaacs,
The Star Department,
Sarah Menescal,
The Names,
Thee Headcoats,
Joe Smooth, Joe Smooth, Joe Smooth, Joe Smooth.
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.