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 Samoa and from Manila.
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 1967 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 harpsichord 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 Marvin Gaye to the techno 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 Bronski Beat. All the underground hits.
All Pussy Galore tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott Heron 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Grey Daturas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Graham Central Station,
Sandy B,
the Normal,
Reagan Youth,
Ultravox,
Radiohead,
Buzzcocks,
Soul Sonic Force,
Lightning Bolt,
Altered Images,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Arcadia,
Grauzone,
Cluster,
Peter and Kerry,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Divine Comedy,
Animal Collective,
X-Ray Spex,
Interpol,
Throbbing Gristle,
Youth Brigade,
The Music Machine,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Charles Mingus,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Leonard Cohen,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Danielle Patucci,
The Sound,
Kool Moe Dee,
the Swans,
the Germs,
Nirvana,
The Five Americans,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
These Immortal Souls,
Moby Grape,
Hoover,
Bizarre Inc.,
Au Pairs,
Patti Smith,
X-101,
Duran Duran,
Bronski Beat,
Funky Four + One,
The Fuzztones,
Lakeside,
Robert Wyatt,
Ludus,
Second Layer,
Jawbox,
Sixth Finger,
The Black Dice,
Zapp,
The Slackers,
Soulsonic Force,
The Star Department,
Kaleidoscope,
Y Pants,
Cal Tjader,
The Electric Prunes, The Electric Prunes, The Electric Prunes, The Electric Prunes.
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.