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 Tunisia and from Toronto.
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 1961 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Camouflage to the rock kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Yellowson. All the underground hits.
All JFA tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bootsy's Rubber Band 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a spring reverb 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 theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Five Americans,
The Litter,
Skaos,
T.S.O.L.,
Joey Negro,
Junior Murvin,
Ten City,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bang On A Can,
Bill Wells,
Scott Walker,
Flamin' Groovies,
cv313,
Black Flag,
Faraquet,
The Selecter,
Rufus Thomas,
Chris & Cosey,
Ken Boothe,
Gabor Szabo,
Black Pus,
New Age Steppers,
Jimmy McGriff,
Television Personalities,
Nirvana,
JFA,
Au Pairs,
Rotary Connection,
Can,
Bill Near,
Nas,
Fear,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Misunderstood,
Scientists,
Sonny Sharrock,
The Electric Prunes,
Hasil Adkins,
Kayak,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Roxy Music,
Arab on Radar,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Das Ding,
The Detroit Cobras,
Little Man,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Qualms,
Funkadelic,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Ludus,
Panda Bear,
Johnny Clarke,
Tim Buckley,
Godley & Creme,
The Blackbyrds,
Iggy Pop,
Ohio Players,
Wire, Wire, Wire, Wire.
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.