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 Uzbekistan and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1964 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Seoul.
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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Be Bop Deluxe to the funk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Soul Sonic Force. All the underground hits.
All Bobby Byrd tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang on a Can All-Stars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Art Ensemble Of Chicago record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alton Ellis,
CMW,
The Offenders,
Rakim,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Organ,
Bang On A Can,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Glenn Branca,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Sun City Girls,
Ronnie Foster,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Fuzztones,
The Black Dice,
Pet Shop Boys,
Cheater Slicks,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Bad Manners,
Flash Fearless,
Harmonia,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Delta 5,
Carl Craig,
Negative Approach,
Pantytec,
F. McDonald,
Wally Richardson,
Sparks,
the Human League,
Yusef Lateef,
The Seeds,
the Normal,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Ronan,
Black Sheep,
Livin' Joy,
Gang Gang Dance,
Iggy Pop,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Searchers,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Eddi Front,
H. Thieme,
Suburban Knight,
Pere Ubu,
Wasted Youth,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Walker Brothers,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
EPMD,
T. Rex,
Rotary Connection,
Letta Mbulu,
The Durutti Column,
The Birthday Party, The Birthday Party, The Birthday Party, The Birthday Party.
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.