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 Afghanistan and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 Robert Palmer 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 Zapp to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Ituana. All the underground hits.
All The Fall tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arthur Verocai 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Cale record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Patti Smith,
Jandek,
Y Pants,
The Detroit Cobras,
Soulsonic Force,
The Tremeloes,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Traffic Nightmare,
Quantec,
Johnny Clarke,
The Velvet Underground,
H. Thieme,
Scion,
Unrelated Segments,
Judy Mowatt,
Desert Stars,
Pantaleimon,
Model 500,
Althea and Donna,
Chris & Cosey,
The Searchers,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Radiohead,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
EPMD,
John Holt,
Morten Harket,
Davy DMX,
Gang Gang Dance,
Sarah Menescal,
Panda Bear,
The Grass Roots,
Young Marble Giants,
John Coltrane,
Ronan,
Qualms,
Whodini,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Robert Wyatt,
Flipper,
Tubeway Army,
In Retrospect,
Outsiders,
The Sonics,
Kool Moe Dee,
Marmalade,
Dorothy Ashby,
Bobby Womack,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Robert Görl,
Pussy Galore,
Moss Icon,
La Düsseldorf,
the Human League,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
E-Dancer,
Terry Callier,
Wire,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Lakeside,
Laurel Aitken,
Lalo Schifrin,
Blancmange, Blancmange, Blancmange, Blancmange.
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.