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 Guatemala and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Gang Gang Dance to the techno 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 Fela Kuti. All the underground hits.
All Lyres tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bad Manners 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Camouflage record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bootsy Collins,
The Human League,
T. Rex,
Bobby Sherman,
The Knickerbockers,
Whodini,
Dawn Penn,
Roxette,
Ituana,
Aural Exciters,
John Cale,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Yellowson,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Jawbox,
Index,
The Leaves,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Interpol,
Tropical Tobacco,
Ten City,
Carl Craig,
Adolescents,
The Fuzztones,
Depeche Mode,
A Flock of Seagulls,
U.S. Maple,
These Immortal Souls,
The Wake,
Pylon,
Wally Richardson,
Accadde A,
In Retrospect,
David Axelrod,
The Seeds,
Bad Manners,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Music Machine,
Radio Birdman,
Kool Moe Dee,
Quadrant,
The Young Rascals,
Bill Near,
The Cramps,
Barrington Levy,
Fad Gadget,
Country Teasers,
Matthew Bourne,
Tubeway Army,
La Düsseldorf,
Tom Boy,
Donald Byrd,
The Kinks,
Black Moon,
The Skatalites,
The Golliwogs,
Outsiders,
Monolake,
The Mummies,
The Birthday Party,
Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul.
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.