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 Argentina and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1963 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 güiro 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 The Birthday Party to the disco kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Rosa Yemen. All the underground hits.
All Bootsy's Rubber Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Doobie Brothers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Colin Newman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Monks,
These Immortal Souls,
Tears for Fears,
Tom Boy,
The Cramps,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Warren Ellis,
Terry Callier,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Ralphi Rosario,
the Association,
The Pretty Things,
Saccharine Trust,
D'Angelo,
Lebanon Hanover,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The United States of America,
The Angels of Light,
Sonic Youth,
Albert Ayler,
K-Klass,
Sight & Sound,
Ultravox,
Ultimate Spinach,
Black Moon,
Grandmaster Flash,
Dark Day,
Japan,
Lalann,
Can,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Tim Buckley,
Hoover,
The Doors,
Alice Coltrane,
Isaac Hayes,
Avey Tare,
Young Marble Giants,
Cheater Slicks,
Con Funk Shun,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Camouflage,
Toni Rubio,
Mark Hollis,
The Residents,
Yazoo,
The Star Department,
Lightning Bolt,
World's Most,
EPMD,
Agitation Free,
The Move,
Johnny Clarke,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Ultra Naté,
Boogie Down Productions,
Gil Scott Heron,
Terrestrial Tones,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Lalo Schifrin,
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bang on a Can All-Stars.
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.