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 Ecuador and from Winnipeg.
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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 harpsichord 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 Avey Tare to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Jawbox. All the underground hits.
All June Days tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Shuggie Otis record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Babytalk record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Stooges,
Supertramp,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Angels of Light,
The Doors,
Mission of Burma,
Joy Division,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Bizarre Inc.,
Can,
Donny Hathaway,
Model 500,
Connie Case,
The Smiths,
The Names,
the Germs,
Carl Craig,
Black Bananas,
Howard Jones,
Altered Images,
Hoover,
The Martian,
Funky Four + One,
This Heat,
Black Moon,
David Bowie,
The Saints,
Harpers Bizarre,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Associates,
Peter and Kerry,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Dennis Brown,
John Foxx,
Kerri Chandler,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Dave Gahan,
Wolf Eyes,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Skaos,
Judy Mowatt,
Bluetip,
Archie Shepp,
The Dirtbombs,
Sun City Girls,
Pagans,
Motorama,
Agent Orange,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Isaac Hayes,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
The Gladiators,
Arthur Verocai,
The Smoke,
Ken Boothe,
The Moody Blues,
Joe Finger,
Crooked Eye,
Cecil Taylor,
Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville.
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.