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 Burundi and from New York.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Althea and Donna to the disco 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 Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish. All the underground hits.
All Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sarah Menescal record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marmalade record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Human League,
Jawbox,
Soft Machine,
Shoche,
The Mojo Men,
The Slits,
X-Ray Spex,
the Human League,
Rosa Yemen,
Oblivians,
The Names,
Crispy Ambulance,
Jimmy McGriff,
Eli Mardock,
Alphaville,
Bizarre Inc.,
Television,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Jeff Mills,
Second Layer,
Agent Orange,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Audionom,
Toni Rubio,
Ultravox,
Gastr Del Sol,
Jandek,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Public Image Ltd.,
Al Stewart,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Smoke,
The Velvet Underground,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Kerri Chandler,
Slick Rick,
Tomorrow,
Q and Not U,
Freddie Wadling,
Wally Richardson,
H. Thieme,
Sun Ra,
Television Personalities,
Au Pairs,
Letta Mbulu,
Intrusion,
China Crisis,
The Pop Group,
the Association,
Nick Fraelich,
Janne Schatter,
Avey Tare,
The Busters,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Marmalade,
Amon Düül,
The Monks,
Main Source,
Gichy Dan,
Nik Kershaw, Nik Kershaw, Nik Kershaw, Nik Kershaw.
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.