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 Barbados and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 48th St. Collective 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 Oblivians. All the underground hits.
All Throbbing Gristle tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arcadia record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 a sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gang of Four record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lou Reed,
The Slackers,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Marshall Jefferson,
DJ Style,
Y Pants,
Cameo,
Lebanon Hanover,
Rosa Yemen,
The Blackbyrds,
Nation of Ulysses,
L. Decosne,
Warren Ellis,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
OOIOO,
a-ha,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Smog,
Slave,
48th St. Collective,
Avey Tare,
Skriet,
Terrestrial Tones,
Jeff Lynne,
Bush Tetras,
Rakim,
Sound Behaviour,
Nils Olav,
Amazonics,
Wasted Youth,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Hoover,
The United States of America,
Animal Collective,
Little Man,
Colin Newman,
The Black Dice,
Radiohead,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Fear,
Marvin Gaye,
Bauhaus,
The Monks,
Quando Quango,
Minnie Riperton,
Donald Byrd,
Pharoah Sanders,
Chris & Cosey,
Panda Bear,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Fugs,
Pantaleimon,
Faraquet,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
the Sonics,
Agitation Free,
Jeff Mills,
These Immortal Souls,
Alison Limerick,
Pere Ubu,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Vogues,
Shoche, Shoche, Shoche, Shoche.
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.