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 South Sudan and from Taipei.
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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Chocolate Watch Band to the rap 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 John Coltrane. All the underground hits.
All Sun Ra Arkestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mark Hollis 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sparks 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?
Lou Christie,
The Five Americans,
Leonard Cohen,
Jimmy McGriff,
Bobby Hutcherson,
ABBA,
Archie Shepp,
Ice-T,
the Human League,
MC5,
Arab on Radar,
Boogie Down Productions,
Kenny Larkin,
The Count Five,
Hasil Adkins,
Glambeats Corp.,
Byron Stingily,
Joy Division,
Angry Samoans,
Tomorrow,
Man Parrish,
John Cale,
Warsaw,
Mark Hollis,
David Bowie,
Hashim,
Heaven 17,
Gang Gang Dance,
Jeff Lynne,
Nation of Ulysses,
Bluetip,
Morten Harket,
Marmalade,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Newcleus,
Sparks,
Gichy Dan,
Masters at Work,
PIL,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Moebius,
Todd Terry,
Arcadia,
Subhumans,
Aural Exciters,
Eve St. Jones,
T. Rex,
The Wake,
Mandrill,
The Barracudas,
Tommy Roe,
Symarip,
Soul Sonic Force,
Make Up,
Japan,
Saccharine Trust,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
K-Klass,
The Grass Roots,
Interpol,
Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims.
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.