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 Uzbekistan and from Toronto.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1960 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 harpsichord 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 Move to the grime kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Rakim. All the underground hits.
All Porter Ricks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tommy Roe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eden Ahbez,
Warsaw,
Smog,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Quadrant,
Youth Brigade,
Yellowson,
Cybotron,
Minutemen,
The Pretty Things,
The Birthday Party,
The Fugs,
Gerry Rafferty,
Rhythm & Sound,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Cowsills,
Guru Guru,
Pantaleimon,
Maurizio,
Inner City,
Mary Jane Girls,
Moss Icon,
Minny Pops,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Pop Group,
Mad Mike,
Davy DMX,
Jeff Lynne,
Charles Mingus,
Gang Green,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Monks,
Fear,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Stetsasonic,
Babytalk,
The Durutti Column,
Lalann,
Sam Rivers,
X-101,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Bauhaus,
Swans,
Sarah Menescal,
China Crisis,
Anakelly,
Joy Division,
The Gories,
the Sonics,
Nick Fraelich,
David Axelrod,
The Flesh Eaters,
Ronan,
Dennis Brown,
The Martian,
Eli Mardock,
The Vogues,
Blancmange,
The Dead C,
Jeff Mills,
Visage,
Letta Mbulu,
Robert Wyatt,
Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman.
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.