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 Kosovo and from Edmonton.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Mission of Burma to the disco 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 The Gladiators. All the underground hits.
All the Swans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every World's Most record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 theremin and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Robert Wyatt record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Golliwogs,
Q and Not U,
Joe Smooth,
The Knickerbockers,
The Fire Engines,
Man Parrish,
Gang Starr,
Whodini,
Alton Ellis,
10cc,
Gregory Isaacs,
Metal Thangz,
Pharoah Sanders,
The Human League,
Gang of Four,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Joensuu 1685,
The Invisible,
Spandau Ballet,
Arcadia,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Pantytec,
Chris Corsano,
Magma,
Pet Shop Boys,
a-ha,
Technova,
Au Pairs,
Agitation Free,
Television,
Massinfluence,
Wire,
Vainqueur,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Magazine,
The Dirtbombs,
Toni Rubio,
Roxette,
Sarah Menescal,
Banda Bassotti,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
John Coltrane,
Fluxion,
Unwound,
Lower 48,
Carl Craig,
Pierre Henry,
JFA,
The Divine Comedy,
The Pretty Things,
Liliput,
Hoover,
Section 25,
The Star Department,
Joyce Sims,
One Last Wish,
Echospace,
Y Pants,
The Beau Brummels,
Bronski Beat,
Chris & Cosey,
Andrew Hill,
Neu!,
Fela Kuti,
8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy.
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.