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 Burkina and from Philadelphia.
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 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Litter to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Fuzztones. All the underground hits.
All Rahsaan Roland Kirk tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Osbourne record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dorothy Ashby record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jandek,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Ohio Players,
Public Enemy,
Angry Samoans,
The Names,
The United States of America,
Crooked Eye,
Das Ding,
ABC,
Juan Atkins,
Basic Channel,
the Bar-Kays,
Joensuu 1685,
a-ha,
ABBA,
JFA,
Nirvana,
Agitation Free,
The Move,
Sparks,
La Düsseldorf,
The Golliwogs,
Nico,
Hardrive,
Steve Hackett,
Skaos,
John Lydon,
In Retrospect,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Glambeats Corp.,
Slick Rick,
The Doobie Brothers,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Sam Rivers,
Malaria!,
One Last Wish,
Youth Brigade,
Lou Christie,
H. Thieme,
Pylon,
Leonard Cohen,
Radiohead,
Livin' Joy,
Absolute Body Control,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Slits,
Flash Fearless,
The Angels of Light,
Lindisfarne,
Andrew Hill,
The Flesh Eaters,
Mary Jane Girls,
Todd Rundgren,
Icehouse,
Drive Like Jehu,
10cc,
Massinfluence,
Jacob Miller,
Boogie Down Productions,
Audionom,
Organ, Organ, Organ, Organ.
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.