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 Solomon Islands and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the oboe 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 a-ha to the funk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Kool Moe Dee. All the underground hits.
All Patti Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Absolute Body Control 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Names record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mandrill,
Spoonie Gee,
Warsaw,
Tubeway Army,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Funkadelic,
Banda Bassotti,
Cybotron,
T.S.O.L.,
EPMD,
Lou Reed,
Gang of Four,
Drexciya,
Sarah Menescal,
Dorothy Ashby,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Loose Ends,
The Kinks,
Livin' Joy,
Zapp,
Shoche,
Royal Trux,
Visage,
Susan Cadogan,
Maleditus Sound,
Nik Kershaw,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Colin Newman,
Flash Fearless,
Radio Birdman,
Rufus Thomas,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Ludus,
Archie Shepp,
Godley & Creme,
Urselle,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Johnny Osbourne,
Jeff Mills,
Metal Thangz,
Graham Central Station,
Judy Mowatt,
Sound Behaviour,
Alison Limerick,
Interpol,
Neu!,
The Mojo Men,
Pulsallama,
The Music Machine,
Alice Coltrane,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Television,
Pantytec,
Echospace,
The Sonics,
Brick,
Camouflage,
Lou Christie,
Goldenarms,
T. Rex, T. Rex, T. Rex, T. Rex.
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.