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 Vietnam and from Lagos.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Manila.
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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Leonard Cohen to the jazz 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 Bill Wells. All the underground hits.
All Niagra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Slits record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Vainqueur record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Motions,
the Slits,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Zero Boys,
Barry Ungar,
Rod Modell,
John Holt,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Massinfluence,
Slave,
The Moleskins,
KRS-One,
Index,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Mummies,
Ronan,
Das Ding,
Parry Music,
The Young Rascals,
DNA,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Nils Olav,
The Saints,
Henry Cow,
Gang Green,
Glenn Branca,
David McCallum,
Black Sheep,
Arab on Radar,
Zapp,
Nick Fraelich,
Aloha Tigers,
Lungfish,
Bobby Byrd,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Hasil Adkins,
Hashim,
Adolescents,
The Buckinghams,
Talk Talk,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Hot Snakes,
Marcia Griffiths,
David Bowie,
Byron Stingily,
The Mojo Men,
Lalann,
Kerri Chandler,
Circle Jerks,
Cecil Taylor,
Franke,
Frankie Knuckles,
Bronski Beat,
Tears for Fears,
The Skatalites,
Crime,
Niagra,
Gil Scott Heron,
Barbara Tucker,
FM Einheit,
H. Thieme,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.