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 Qatar and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Drive Like Jehu to the dance 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 Siouxsie and the Banshees tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every John Foxx 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 guitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Robert Hood,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Fatback Band,
Isaac Hayes,
Harry Pussy,
Severed Heads,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Leaves,
Janne Schatter,
Colin Newman,
Slick Rick,
Moby Grape,
Radiohead,
Faraquet,
Bang On A Can,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
kango's stein massive,
the Sonics,
Don Cherry,
Stereo Dub,
The Saints,
Banda Bassotti,
Erykah Badu,
John Holt,
Parry Music,
Sonic Youth,
Icehouse,
Magma,
Carl Craig,
Average White Band,
Anthony Braxton,
Popol Vuh,
Pantaleimon,
David Bowie,
Bill Wells,
Wings,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Offenders,
Ten City,
LL Cool J,
The Barracudas,
The Shadows of Knight,
The Grass Roots,
KRS-One,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Zeros,
Lower 48,
Amon Düül,
Rhythm & Sound,
Terry Callier,
The American Breed,
The Sonics,
Neu!,
Duran Duran,
Kerrie Biddell,
Arcadia,
The Happenings,
Qualms,
Max Romeo,
X-Ray Spex,
The Standells, The Standells, The Standells, The Standells.
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.