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 Iceland and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 organ 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 Sex Pistols to the rock kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 The Names. All the underground hits.
All Jacob Miller tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Todd Terry record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 rhodes and an organ 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 rhodes and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Peter and Kerry,
The Moody Blues,
Susan Cadogan,
Vainqueur,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Invisible,
Duran Duran,
The Dead C,
Derrick May,
Eden Ahbez,
Qualms,
Cal Tjader,
Marmalade,
Mantronix,
Harry Pussy,
Pantaleimon,
Grey Daturas,
Davy DMX,
LL Cool J,
Ten City,
the Germs,
Buzzcocks,
Tomorrow,
Quando Quango,
Roxette,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Monolake,
Stockholm Monsters,
Pharoah Sanders,
Alphaville,
Schoolly D,
The Neon Judgement,
Cecil Taylor,
Todd Rundgren,
The Last Poets,
Hashim,
Prince Buster,
Dorothy Ashby,
the Fania All-Stars,
Masters at Work,
The Detroit Cobras,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Black Dice,
Wolf Eyes,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Hasil Adkins,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Lucky Dragons,
David Bowie,
Moby Grape,
Adolescents,
Aswad,
Section 25,
Mission of Burma,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Aural Exciters,
Camberwell Now,
The Flesh Eaters,
Soft Machine, Soft Machine, Soft Machine, Soft Machine.
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.