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 Israel and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1963 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Mandrill to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Bush Tetras tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dawn Penn record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jandek record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe 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 Red Krayola,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Crime,
Scott Walker,
Camouflage,
The Human League,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Clear Light,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Tomorrow,
Pole,
DNA,
Ultra Naté,
Marmalade,
Scrapy,
Cybotron,
The Birthday Party,
The Neon Judgement,
FM Einheit,
Sällskapet,
The Blackbyrds,
U.S. Maple,
Saccharine Trust,
Donny Hathaway,
Brothers Johnson,
PIL,
Avey Tare,
Deepchord,
Oblivians,
Kayak,
Pulsallama,
Dark Day,
Maurizio,
The Cramps,
The Fortunes,
Rhythm & Sound,
Drexciya,
D'Angelo,
Pet Shop Boys,
Visage,
Arab on Radar,
Man Parrish,
John Lydon,
Minor Threat,
Howard Jones,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Moleskins,
ABBA,
Angry Samoans,
Heaven 17,
Wally Richardson,
Oneida,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Tubeway Army,
Organ,
Joey Negro,
Rakim,
the Human League,
The Slits, The Slits, The Slits, The Slits.
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.