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 Suriname and from London.
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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Heaven 17 to the grime kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Cecil Taylor. All the underground hits.
All Tim Buckley tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Modern Lovers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 an arpeggiator and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a These Immortal Souls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Reuben Wilson,
Second Layer,
Erasure,
Chrome,
Brothers Johnson,
Fela Kuti,
DJ Sneak,
X-101,
Donald Byrd,
T.S.O.L.,
Sonny Sharrock,
Harpers Bizarre,
Michelle Simonal,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Dennis Brown,
Lightning Bolt,
Lower 48,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Grandmaster Flash,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Stereo Dub,
The Smiths,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Sister Nancy,
Joey Negro,
Pet Shop Boys,
Lalo Schifrin,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Beau Brummels,
Brand Nubian,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Grey Daturas,
CMW,
Nick Fraelich,
Bill Near,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Dorothy Ashby,
Electric Prunes,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Guru Guru,
The Moody Blues,
Dead Boys,
L. Decosne,
Fat Boys,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Royal Trux,
Kayak,
The Smoke,
Wolf Eyes,
Kurtis Blow,
Panda Bear,
Scientists,
Sixth Finger,
Oblivians,
Masters at Work,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols.
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.