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 Kazakhstan and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Ossler to the punk 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 Siglo XX. All the underground hits.
All Kerrie Biddell tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Can record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric Dolphy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Lakeside,
the Fania All-Stars,
Thompson Twins,
Todd Rundgren,
The Pop Group,
Soulsonic Force,
Sun Ra,
Gang Green,
Wire,
The Selecter,
Faraquet,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Newcleus,
Television,
Peter and Kerry,
Fear,
Ken Boothe,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Sex Pistols,
Pulsallama,
Anthony Braxton,
The Residents,
Jandek,
Bill Near,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Negative Approach,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Mad Mike,
Tim Buckley,
Donny Hathaway,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
The Barracudas,
Make Up,
Lalann,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Alton Ellis,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Gang Starr,
Minor Threat,
Gabor Szabo,
Cheater Slicks,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Litter,
Cameo,
Gong,
Wally Richardson,
Crispian St. Peters,
David Axelrod,
Yellowson,
Kaleidoscope,
Warren Ellis,
Skarface,
The Velvet Underground,
Buzzcocks,
Magazine,
Swell Maps,
Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith, Patti Smith.
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.