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 Papua New Guinea and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Rites of Spring to the crunk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Surgeon. All the underground hits.
All Saccharine Trust tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Easy Going record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 sitar and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Warren Ellis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Happenings,
Pharoah Sanders,
Fad Gadget,
Bad Manners,
Grauzone,
Anakelly,
Gastr Del Sol,
Grandmaster Flash,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Neil Young,
New York Dolls,
ABC,
Lalann,
Kurtis Blow,
The United States of America,
The Cure,
Pantaleimon,
Sex Pistols,
Don Cherry,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Marvin Gaye,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Dead C,
These Immortal Souls,
Henry Cow,
Godley & Creme,
Whodini,
Pet Shop Boys,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Carl Craig,
The Star Department,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Alice Coltrane,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Rhythm & Sound,
Supertramp,
Ultravox,
The Residents,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Black Flag,
Hashim,
Tommy Roe,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Scott Walker,
D'Angelo,
The Fuzztones,
David Bowie,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Sister Nancy,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Visage,
The Victims,
Model 500,
MC5,
Be Bop Deluxe,
David Axelrod,
Franke,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Sun City Girls,
Desert Stars, Desert Stars, Desert Stars, Desert Stars.
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.