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 Cuba and from Johannesburg.
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 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Rapeman to the grunge kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Yusef Lateef. All the underground hits.
All DNA tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ludus record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Roy Ayers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ash Ra Tempel,
Moebius,
Maurizio,
Heaven 17,
Man Eating Sloth,
JFA,
Tubeway Army,
Donald Byrd,
Adolescents,
T.S.O.L.,
The Blackbyrds,
Lou Christie,
The Offenders,
Thompson Twins,
Warren Ellis,
Porter Ricks,
Masters at Work,
Bobby Hutcherson,
the Slits,
The Dirtbombs,
The Gun Club,
These Immortal Souls,
The Grass Roots,
Derrick May,
Ponytail,
The Evens,
Lucky Dragons,
Mantronix,
Kurtis Blow,
Pylon,
Jeff Lynne,
a-ha,
Scan 7,
Silicon Teens,
Warsaw,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Magazine,
Davy DMX,
Avey Tare,
Erasure,
Shoche,
Quando Quango,
Laurel Aitken,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Standells,
Fugazi,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Janne Schatter,
Bizarre Inc.,
Anakelly,
Jawbox,
The Cowsills,
Television,
Soul Sonic Force,
Ornette Coleman,
Fela Kuti,
The Selecter,
Stockholm Monsters,
Nico,
Rotary Connection,
Nils Olav,
Danielle Patucci,
F. McDonald, F. McDonald, F. McDonald, F. McDonald.
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.