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 Nepal and from Houston.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Delhi.
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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Cecil Taylor to the jazz kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 The Walker Brothers. All the underground hits.
All Thompson Twins tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Nas record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Basic Channel record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Niagra,
Sarah Menescal,
Franke,
Icehouse,
MC5,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
JFA,
Nas,
Michelle Simonal,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Gichy Dan,
The Knickerbockers,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Flesh Eaters,
Dawn Penn,
The Techniques,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
The Black Dice,
Glenn Branca,
The Tremeloes,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Hoover,
Crime,
Thee Headcoats,
Bootsy Collins,
Ituana,
Rakim,
L. Decosne,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Joyce Sims,
Charles Mingus,
Can,
Dave Gahan,
Simply Red,
Donald Byrd,
Rufus Thomas,
The Grass Roots,
The Gun Club,
Royal Trux,
Lee Hazlewood,
R.M.O.,
Pere Ubu,
Nico,
Avey Tare,
The Monks,
Sun Ra,
Nirvana,
Eli Mardock,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Guru Guru,
The Angels of Light,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Saccharine Trust,
Bill Wells,
Basic Channel,
The Slackers,
Crash Course in Science,
Eric Copeland,
Blossom Toes,
Aaron Thompson,
Marshall Jefferson, Marshall Jefferson, Marshall Jefferson, Marshall Jefferson.
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.