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 Israel and from Philadelphia.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Jandek to the dance kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Prince Buster. All the underground hits.
All LL Cool J tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Leonard Cohen 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 an organ and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Be Bop Deluxe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mary Jane Girls,
The Invisible,
Derrick May,
Roxette,
Bill Near,
June of 44,
Magma,
Scan 7,
The Knickerbockers,
Swell Maps,
Hasil Adkins,
Vladislav Delay,
Jandek,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Jerry's Kids,
The Moody Blues,
James White and The Blacks,
Chris & Cosey,
Symarip,
Excepter,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Radiohead,
Al Stewart,
The Motions,
Tomorrow,
The Black Dice,
D'Angelo,
48th St. Collective,
Kurtis Blow,
Anthony Braxton,
Robert Wyatt,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Delon & Dalcan,
Roy Ayers,
X-102,
Amon Düül,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Robert Hood,
Deadbeat,
ABC,
One Last Wish,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Erykah Badu,
John Holt,
Absolute Body Control,
The Fugs,
The Skatalites,
Soul II Soul,
Mantronix,
Q65,
Bootsy Collins,
Pussy Galore,
Niagra,
The Fall,
Smog,
Isaac Hayes,
Quando Quango,
The Detroit Cobras,
DJ Style,
Terry Callier,
Cluster,
E-Dancer,
Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis.
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.