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 Zimbabwe and from Houston.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the snare 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 Roxette to the funk 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 Pagans. All the underground hits.
All A Flock of Seagulls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Reuben Wilson 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Slits record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Schoolly D,
Blake Baxter,
Tubeway Army,
Altered Images,
Henry Cow,
Mantronix,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Ralphi Rosario,
Deadbeat,
Josef K,
Kayak,
Das Ding,
Scrapy,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Eli Mardock,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Slick Rick,
Parry Music,
Letta Mbulu,
The Moleskins,
Aswad,
Jacob Miller,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Lou Christie,
Depeche Mode,
The Doors,
Sonic Youth,
Bad Manners,
In Retrospect,
James White and The Blacks,
Electric Light Orchestra,
the Normal,
The Smiths,
Graham Central Station,
Flamin' Groovies,
Basic Channel,
The Dead C,
The Shadows of Knight,
Kool Moe Dee,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Fugazi,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Misunderstood,
Judy Mowatt,
John Cale,
Swell Maps,
Ronan,
The Knickerbockers,
Pylon,
Scratch Acid,
Soft Machine,
Buzzcocks,
ABBA,
Funky Four + One,
The J.B.'s,
Neil Young,
Mad Mike,
Can,
Aloha Tigers,
The Dave Clark Five,
Minny Pops,
Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins.
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.