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 Dominica and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1987.
I was there at the first Nirvana show in Seattle.
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 1966 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 sitar 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 Brand Nubian to the jazz 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 Warren Ellis. All the underground hits.
All Flamin' Groovies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tomorrow record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pet Shop Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Techniques,
Camberwell Now,
The Skatalites,
Terry Callier,
The Slits,
Monks,
Isaac Hayes,
Throbbing Gristle,
Excepter,
Amon Düül,
H. Thieme,
Moss Icon,
Sex Pistols,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Schoolly D,
Nas,
Cameo,
Idris Muhammad,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Camouflage,
One Last Wish,
8 Eyed Spy,
Ken Boothe,
Radio Birdman,
Delon & Dalcan,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
kango's stein massive,
John Foxx,
Howard Jones,
Public Enemy,
The Gap Band,
Franke,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
June of 44,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Eric B and Rakim,
Pussy Galore,
The Real Kids,
The Toasters,
Quando Quango,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Delta 5,
The Smiths,
The Buckinghams,
The United States of America,
Television,
Siglo XX,
World's Most,
Fela Kuti,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Anthony Braxton,
Animal Collective,
Stereo Dub,
Nik Kershaw,
Moebius,
Slave,
The Durutti Column,
U.S. Maple,
Harpers Bizarre,
Masters at Work,
Ronnie Foster,
Fad Gadget,
The Searchers,
Deakin, Deakin, Deakin, Deakin.
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.