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 Benin and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 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 Gary Puckett & The Union Gap to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Qualms. All the underground hits.
All Gang Green tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Thee Headcoats record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rhythm & Sound record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Johnny Osbourne,
Animal Collective,
Silicon Teens,
The Divine Comedy,
Bang On A Can,
Donny Hathaway,
China Crisis,
Archie Shepp,
Byron Stingily,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Fugazi,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Lebanon Hanover,
Ice-T,
Glenn Branca,
Flipper,
The Red Krayola,
Jimmy McGriff,
Flamin' Groovies,
Jeff Mills,
Pylon,
Quantec,
The Real Kids,
Soul II Soul,
Qualms,
Wolf Eyes,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Tommy Roe,
Stetsasonic,
Joy Division,
Deadbeat,
Scan 7,
Rod Modell,
Jacques Brel,
Bootsy Collins,
Joey Negro,
Heaven 17,
The Young Rascals,
Franke,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Sandy B,
Gang of Four,
The Trojans,
Rites of Spring,
Fad Gadget,
Scott Walker,
Mo-Dettes,
Andrew Hill,
Model 500,
Depeche Mode,
Albert Ayler,
cv313,
Brand Nubian,
Gabor Szabo,
The Fuzztones,
Fluxion,
The Searchers,
Gregory Isaacs,
Rufus Thomas,
Brass Construction,
Soft Cell, Soft Cell, Soft Cell, Soft Cell.
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.