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 Laos and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 spring reverb 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 The Modern Lovers to the rock 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 Rakim. All the underground hits.
All Blossom Toes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Max Romeo record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Skatalites record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Sound,
Mad Mike,
Skarface,
Organ,
The Raincoats,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Dual Sessions,
The Martian,
Reuben Wilson,
The Offenders,
Morten Harket,
Goldenarms,
Arcadia,
Sparks,
Mantronix,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Ronan,
Todd Rundgren,
Lakeside,
MDC,
Terrestrial Tones,
DJ Style,
Niagra,
Bang On A Can,
The Fall,
John Cale,
Index,
Vainqueur,
Leonard Cohen,
Flamin' Groovies,
Youth Brigade,
Deadbeat,
Agent Orange,
The Walker Brothers,
The American Breed,
Pylon,
Model 500,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Archie Shepp,
Spandau Ballet,
Intrusion,
David Bowie,
Quadrant,
Cymande,
U.S. Maple,
Glenn Branca,
Dead Boys,
The Index,
This Heat,
Barbara Tucker,
Kerri Chandler,
Suburban Knight,
Terry Callier,
Janne Schatter,
The Zeros,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Moebius,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Litter,
Minor Threat,
Negative Approach,
Sugar Minott,
Amazonics, Amazonics, Amazonics, Amazonics.
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.