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 Malawi and from Milan.
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 1967 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Teenage Jesus and the Jerks to the rap kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Laurel Aitken. All the underground hits.
All Delon & Dalcan tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Richard Hell and the Voidoids record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 rhodes and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sonic Youth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Electric Prunes,
cv313,
Grandmaster Flash,
Talk Talk,
David McCallum,
KRS-One,
Barbara Tucker,
Mars,
Roger Hodgson,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Main Source,
Japan,
Funkadelic,
Arab on Radar,
DNA,
Joy Division,
Donny Hathaway,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Duran Duran,
Dennis Brown,
Eden Ahbez,
Stereo Dub,
Pulsallama,
The Red Krayola,
Quadrant,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Carl Craig,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
New Age Steppers,
June Days,
Cymande,
Laurel Aitken,
The Human League,
Alice Coltrane,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Banda Bassotti,
the Association,
Ronan,
Amon Düül,
The Trojans,
The Birthday Party,
Adolescents,
Buzzcocks,
Sugar Minott,
Max Romeo,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Monks,
Hasil Adkins,
Byron Stingily,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Groovy Waters,
Chris Corsano,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The New Christs,
Neu!,
The J.B.'s,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Eric Copeland,
Crispian St. Peters,
Letta Mbulu,
The Beau Brummels,
The Happenings, The Happenings, The Happenings, The Happenings.
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.