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 Kyrgyzstan and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1962 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 Tom Verlaine 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 UT to the crunk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Eric Copeland. All the underground hits.
All Fela Kuti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alton Ellis 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pet Shop Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mo-Dettes,
The Neon Judgement,
the Human League,
Ultra Naté,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Dave Gahan,
The Gories,
Sarah Menescal,
Reuben Wilson,
Robert Görl,
Organ,
Pantytec,
Unwound,
Nirvana,
The Velvet Underground,
Ice-T,
Ituana,
Eve St. Jones,
The United States of America,
Brothers Johnson,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Fire Engines,
Spoonie Gee,
The Real Kids,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Leonard Cohen,
The Fall,
Crooked Eye,
Shuggie Otis,
The Techniques,
Liliput,
Blake Baxter,
Ultimate Spinach,
Anthony Braxton,
Rakim,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Bill Wells,
Steve Hackett,
The American Breed,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
the Bar-Kays,
Tom Boy,
Slick Rick,
Joey Negro,
Fat Boys,
Saccharine Trust,
Kevin Saunderson,
Laurel Aitken,
Y Pants,
The Standells,
Parry Music,
Circle Jerks,
Eric B and Rakim,
Todd Terry,
The Alarm Clocks,
Ten City,
Panda Bear,
Colin Newman,
Hardrive,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Star Department,
Wings, Wings, Wings, Wings.
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.