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 Solomon Islands and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 synthesizer 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 Sonic Youth to the rap 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 Alphaville. All the underground hits.
All The Dave Clark Five tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tropical Tobacco 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 rhodes and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Dirtbombs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Beau Brummels,
Sister Nancy,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Man Eating Sloth,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Model 500,
Public Image Ltd.,
Minny Pops,
Moss Icon,
Sun Ra,
Isaac Hayes,
Harpers Bizarre,
Fluxion,
Althea and Donna,
The Cowsills,
Ponytail,
Bill Near,
The Angels of Light,
Circle Jerks,
E-Dancer,
FM Einheit,
T.S.O.L.,
Pylon,
Johnny Clarke,
Mary Jane Girls,
Qualms,
Sex Pistols,
Avey Tare,
Shuggie Otis,
Negative Approach,
Lungfish,
Groovy Waters,
Scratch Acid,
Lebanon Hanover,
Jandek,
The Techniques,
Amon Düül II,
Harry Pussy,
Judy Mowatt,
EPMD,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Terry Callier,
The Shadows of Knight,
Tubeway Army,
Camberwell Now,
Susan Cadogan,
Pere Ubu,
Stiv Bators,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Con Funk Shun,
Babytalk,
Rapeman,
Pussy Galore,
Sight & Sound,
The Sonics,
Alice Coltrane,
R.M.O.,
Vladislav Delay, Vladislav Delay, Vladislav Delay, Vladislav Delay.
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.