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 Guatemala and from Bremen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Bush Tetras to the techno kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Skriet. All the underground hits.
All Bizarre Inc. tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Golliwogs 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The American Breed record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Can,
Duran Duran,
Hashim,
Blancmange,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Erasure,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Sister Nancy,
Gang of Four,
Barrington Levy,
Stereo Dub,
Jacques Brel,
Thompson Twins,
Connie Case,
Henry Cow,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Quantec,
Tubeway Army,
Eric Dolphy,
Franke,
Trumans Water,
Bill Wells,
Saccharine Trust,
Jeff Lynne,
Tears for Fears,
Au Pairs,
Tim Buckley,
Jandek,
This Heat,
The Dirtbombs,
Whodini,
The Count Five,
The Moody Blues,
Alton Ellis,
Chris & Cosey,
The Fugs,
the Association,
The Leaves,
Bobby Byrd,
H. Thieme,
The Move,
Eden Ahbez,
La Düsseldorf,
Rekid,
Joe Smooth,
the Sonics,
Buzzcocks,
The Grass Roots,
Black Sheep,
Angry Samoans,
Donny Hathaway,
Charles Mingus,
Erykah Badu,
The Busters,
MC5,
the Normal,
the Slits,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Zero Boys,
Marmalade,
Audionom,
Ralphi Rosario,
Animal Collective,
The Monochrome Set, The Monochrome Set, The Monochrome Set, The Monochrome Set.
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.