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 Guatemala and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the 808 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 Buzzcocks 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 Theoretical Girls. All the underground hits.
All Rapeman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crispy Ambulance record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June of 44,
Fugazi,
Mantronix,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Matthew Bourne,
Tropical Tobacco,
Marvin Gaye,
Erykah Badu,
Liliput,
Scott Walker,
It's A Beautiful Day,
John Holt,
Anthony Braxton,
Crispian St. Peters,
Crash Course in Science,
The Happenings,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Zeros,
Alton Ellis,
Tubeway Army,
Ohio Players,
Suicide,
Girls At Our Best!,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Niagra,
Cybotron,
The Black Dice,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Lightning Bolt,
The New Christs,
Freddie Wadling,
Barbara Tucker,
8 Eyed Spy,
JFA,
The American Breed,
Ponytail,
Soft Machine,
Arab on Radar,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Slits,
Delta 5,
Underground Resistance,
The Shadows of Knight,
Kool Moe Dee,
Franke,
Pagans,
Rakim,
EPMD,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Livin' Joy,
Tim Buckley,
Pet Shop Boys,
Joensuu 1685,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Negative Approach,
The Dead C,
T.S.O.L.,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Lalo Schifrin,
David Bowie,
Terry Callier, Terry Callier, Terry Callier, Terry Callier.
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.