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 Lebanon and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Sao Paulo.
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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Silicon Teens to the electroclash 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 Alphaville. All the underground hits.
All Erykah Badu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Young Marble Giants record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a mellotron 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 arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Panda Bear,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Mojo Men,
The Human League,
Sexual Harrassment,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
DJ Sneak,
Andrew Hill,
Alphaville,
Rosa Yemen,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Residents,
Matthew Bourne,
Gil Scott Heron,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Dual Sessions,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Grass Roots,
David Axelrod,
Public Enemy,
Q65,
Eric Copeland,
The Associates,
Shuggie Otis,
Depeche Mode,
Thee Headcoats,
Pagans,
The Modern Lovers,
The New Christs,
Black Flag,
One Last Wish,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Sonic Youth,
Suicide,
Bang On A Can,
Gabor Szabo,
Kerri Chandler,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Star Department,
The Doors,
Smog,
Bob Dylan,
Ronan,
Massinfluence,
Wasted Youth,
Rod Modell,
Man Eating Sloth,
Swell Maps,
The Litter,
Cecil Taylor,
Laurel Aitken,
Boredoms,
Vainqueur,
Whodini,
Hot Snakes,
Procol Harum,
LL Cool J,
Liliput, Liliput, Liliput, Liliput.
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.