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 Lithuania and from Taipei.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Shadows of Knight to the techno kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Chris & Cosey. All the underground hits.
All Lonnie Liston Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Japan record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Agent Orange record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tropical Tobacco,
James White and The Blacks,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Scratch Acid,
The Blues Magoos,
Cal Tjader,
Fatback Band,
Ultravox,
Carl Craig,
Terry Callier,
Erykah Badu,
The Fall,
Quando Quango,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Pop Group,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Nas,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Chris & Cosey,
Archie Shepp,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Joe Finger,
Lou Reed,
Idris Muhammad,
Funky Four + One,
June of 44,
Y Pants,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Guru Guru,
Easy Going,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Panda Bear,
Glenn Branca,
Yazoo,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Kurtis Blow,
Tim Buckley,
Pere Ubu,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Brand Nubian,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Techniques,
A Certain Ratio,
Roxy Music,
X-102,
Reuben Wilson,
Patti Smith,
Technova,
Delon & Dalcan,
Groovy Waters,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Ohio Players,
La Düsseldorf,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Pierre Henry,
The Moleskins,
The Moody Blues,
Howard Jones,
Todd Terry, Todd Terry, Todd Terry, Todd Terry.
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.