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 Guyana and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Modern Lovers to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Seeds. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Eden Ahbez record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mark Hollis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Arab on Radar,
Donald Byrd,
The Kinks,
Magma,
Cecil Taylor,
Index,
In Retrospect,
The Modern Lovers,
Porter Ricks,
Don Cherry,
Vainqueur,
Roger Hodgson,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Rufus Thomas,
Kayak,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Buckinghams,
Bang On A Can,
Hashim,
Lungfish,
Quantec,
T.S.O.L.,
ABBA,
Malaria!,
Peter and Kerry,
The Associates,
Mr. Review,
Pere Ubu,
Groovy Waters,
Nico,
Yellowson,
K-Klass,
Arcadia,
Monks,
Maleditus Sound,
Mary Jane Girls,
PIL,
OOIOO,
The Velvet Underground,
LL Cool J,
Unwound,
Toni Rubio,
The Move,
Stereo Dub,
Fad Gadget,
Bauhaus,
Nick Fraelich,
Jerry's Kids,
Amon Düül II,
Basic Channel,
The Searchers,
The Moleskins,
Skaos,
Surgeon,
Television,
Connie Case,
AZ,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Litter,
Tim Buckley,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Piero Umiliani,
The Skatalites,
Stiv Bators, Stiv Bators, Stiv Bators, Stiv Bators.
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.