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 Burkina and from Mumbai.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Piero Umiliani to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 the Association. All the underground hits.
All Iggy Pop tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Strawberry Alarm Clock record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Matthew Halsall record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Laurel Aitken,
Sonic Youth,
Surgeon,
Lyres,
B.T. Express,
Dave Gahan,
Brass Construction,
D'Angelo,
Bill Near,
Massinfluence,
The Raincoats,
Tropical Tobacco,
Derrick Morgan,
The Beau Brummels,
The Mummies,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Leonard Cohen,
FM Einheit,
The Real Kids,
Bang On A Can,
Warren Ellis,
Fat Boys,
Roy Ayers,
Charles Mingus,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
T.S.O.L.,
Aswad,
New Order,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Second Layer,
Mr. Review,
Glenn Branca,
Basic Channel,
Kerri Chandler,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Arthur Verocai,
Bobby Hutcherson,
E-Dancer,
Curtis Mayfield,
Cal Tjader,
Black Moon,
Sight & Sound,
Erykah Badu,
Pharoah Sanders,
The Happenings,
KRS-One,
Minny Pops,
Nico,
Jesper Dahlback,
Joe Smooth,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Rekid,
Pantytec,
Eve St. Jones,
Frankie Knuckles,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Human League,
Crime,
Donny Hathaway,
Soul II Soul,
Monks, Monks, Monks, Monks.
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.