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 Guyana and from Sao Paulo.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the 808 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 The Smiths to the grunge 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 Aloha Tigers. All the underground hits.
All Silicon Teens tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sällskapet record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Schoolly D record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Underground Resistance,
Lower 48,
The Star Department,
Chris Corsano,
Jacques Brel,
X-102,
Magazine,
the Normal,
Outsiders,
Television,
Dennis Brown,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Monochrome Set,
Slick Rick,
Minnie Riperton,
One Last Wish,
Matthew Halsall,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Judy Mowatt,
Absolute Body Control,
Man Parrish,
Toni Rubio,
The Victims,
Josef K,
Don Cherry,
Organ,
Unwound,
Grey Daturas,
Pantaleimon,
Blossom Toes,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Urselle,
Amon Düül,
Dorothy Ashby,
Talk Talk,
The Cramps,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
The Beau Brummels,
Sparks,
KRS-One,
Moby Grape,
Funky Four + One,
Laurel Aitken,
Carl Craig,
The Residents,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Agent Orange,
La Düsseldorf,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Technova,
The Doors,
Throbbing Gristle,
Echospace,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
D'Angelo,
Delta 5,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
The Zeros,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Yellowson, Yellowson, Yellowson, Yellowson.
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.