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 Vanuatu and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1987.
I was there at the first Nirvana show in Seattle.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell to the dance kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 X-Ray Spex. All the underground hits.
All MDC tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crooked Eye record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Basic Channel record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Josef K,
X-Ray Spex,
The Tremeloes,
The Smiths,
Yazoo,
Whodini,
The Busters,
Michelle Simonal,
Roxy Music,
Fela Kuti,
Basic Channel,
Public Enemy,
Motorama,
Kenny Larkin,
Anthony Braxton,
Black Pus,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Sisters of Mercy,
10cc,
Ultra Naté,
Gichy Dan,
Patti Smith,
Gong,
Lakeside,
Metal Thangz,
Camouflage,
The Sonics,
The Barracudas,
X-101,
Peter & Gordon,
Joy Division,
Bill Near,
Ohio Players,
Derrick May,
John Foxx,
In Retrospect,
Skaos,
The Motions,
The Shadows of Knight,
Easy Going,
Minnie Riperton,
Chris Corsano,
Siglo XX,
Funky Four + One,
Rhythm & Sound,
Wolf Eyes,
Jerry's Kids,
The Seeds,
James White and The Blacks,
Rapeman,
The Fire Engines,
Leonard Cohen,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Roxette,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
AZ,
Delta 5,
June Days,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Qualms, Qualms, Qualms, Qualms.
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.