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 Kiribati and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 synthesizer 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 The Wake to the crunk 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 Marvin Gaye. All the underground hits.
All Pulsallama tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Royal Trux 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Babytalk record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Max Romeo,
New Age Steppers,
Intrusion,
Maleditus Sound,
Josef K,
Scan 7,
Kayak,
Peter and Kerry,
Tears for Fears,
Hashim,
Delta 5,
Monolake,
T.S.O.L.,
The Grass Roots,
Crash Course in Science,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Warsaw,
The Human League,
Alice Coltrane,
One Last Wish,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Last Poets,
Yaz,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Birthday Party,
Sparks,
X-101,
Joy Division,
10cc,
The Seeds,
Sight & Sound,
Sunsets and Hearts,
48th St. Collective,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Sound,
Minny Pops,
Wire,
JFA,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Zero Boys,
Quantec,
Black Bananas,
The Gun Club,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Hasil Adkins,
Eve St. Jones,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Robert Hood,
Duran Duran,
Rakim,
Marvin Gaye,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Kerri Chandler,
Colin Newman,
Steve Hackett,
Excepter,
The Names,
The Invisible,
Aswad,
Eurythmics,
Swans,
Sexual Harrassment,
Arab on Radar,
Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can.
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.