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 Bangladesh and from Calgary.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Supertramp to the rock kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Fad Gadget. All the underground hits.
All Swell Maps tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fort Wilson Riot record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 marimba and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Cale,
Maurizio,
Grey Daturas,
Rotary Connection,
Buzzcocks,
Eddi Front,
Henry Cow,
The Grass Roots,
Jeff Mills,
Sällskapet,
Danielle Patucci,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Nas,
Funkadelic,
Pere Ubu,
Lucky Dragons,
Thompson Twins,
Bad Manners,
The Shadows of Knight,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Monochrome Set,
Bush Tetras,
The Misunderstood,
Severed Heads,
Fat Boys,
The Residents,
The Sound,
KRS-One,
Cecil Taylor,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Slits,
Dave Gahan,
Nils Olav,
Donald Byrd,
Joy Division,
Fatback Band,
Excepter,
48th St. Collective,
Ludus,
Barrington Levy,
Ponytail,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Smiths,
Pussy Galore,
Kerrie Biddell,
Deadbeat,
Stereo Dub,
B.T. Express,
Hashim,
The Cowsills,
Japan,
Piero Umiliani,
Aswad,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Babytalk,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Bill Wells,
Harmonia,
Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock.
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.