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 Uganda and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 Seoul and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Beasts of Bourbon to the dance 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 Camberwell Now. All the underground hits.
All Hardrive tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New York Dolls record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 synthesizer and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cowsills record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rufus Thomas,
Excepter,
DJ Style,
Newcleus,
EPMD,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Flamin' Groovies,
Radio Birdman,
Harpers Bizarre,
H. Thieme,
Model 500,
T. Rex,
X-Ray Spex,
Maleditus Sound,
Bauhaus,
Suicide,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The American Breed,
Wire,
Glenn Branca,
Eurythmics,
Eric B and Rakim,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Pharoah Sanders,
Pussy Galore,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Flesh Eaters,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Todd Terry,
Cybotron,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Youth Brigade,
X-101,
the Germs,
Byron Stingily,
David Bowie,
Shoche,
Mary Jane Girls,
Nirvana,
Hoover,
Gong,
Juan Atkins,
Minutemen,
Laurel Aitken,
Colin Newman,
Cymande,
Rapeman,
Funky Four + One,
The Alarm Clocks,
T.S.O.L.,
Drexciya,
Severed Heads,
Nik Kershaw,
The Last Poets,
Khruangbin,
Lindisfarne,
Iggy Pop,
The Associates,
Boogie Down Productions,
Sparks, Sparks, Sparks, Sparks.
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.