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 Bangladesh and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 A Certain Ratio to the dance 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 Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. All the underground hits.
All Lower 48 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Archie Shepp 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Moleskins record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Neil Young,
Lyres,
Rakim,
Yellowson,
Soft Machine,
the Swans,
Donald Byrd,
New Age Steppers,
Charles Mingus,
Davy DMX,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Bill Near,
Gang Gang Dance,
Mission of Burma,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Count Five,
Tubeway Army,
X-101,
Oblivians,
Fad Gadget,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Velvet Underground,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Neon Judgement,
Y Pants,
David Axelrod,
Juan Atkins,
Trumans Water,
Panda Bear,
The Monks,
Pussy Galore,
Prince Buster,
Average White Band,
Public Enemy,
The Golliwogs,
Derrick May,
Barry Ungar,
The Smoke,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Gap Band,
PIL,
Maurizio,
Soft Cell,
Bang On A Can,
Joyce Sims,
The American Breed,
Mr. Review,
Howard Jones,
Schoolly D,
Eden Ahbez,
The Toasters,
the Normal,
Eric B and Rakim,
Rufus Thomas,
The Seeds,
Letta Mbulu,
Moby Grape,
Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid.
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.