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 Gabon and from Edmonton.
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 1968 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 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 Deepchord to the rap kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Eve St. Jones. All the underground hits.
All DJ Sneak tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Swans record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 clarinet and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric Copeland record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
FM Einheit,
Quantec,
Mandrill,
Sonic Youth,
The Monochrome Set,
the Soft Cell,
Kas Product,
Guru Guru,
Swell Maps,
Barry Ungar,
Stiv Bators,
Lalo Schifrin,
Lou Reed,
Das Ding,
Rod Modell,
The Sonics,
Amon Düül,
Loose Ends,
Rosa Yemen,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Tres Demented,
Reuben Wilson,
Television Personalities,
Con Funk Shun,
Hot Snakes,
Saccharine Trust,
Brand Nubian,
Fatback Band,
Urselle,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Magazine,
Metal Thangz,
Erykah Badu,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
the Sonics,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Lower 48,
Barrington Levy,
Pet Shop Boys,
Arcadia,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Depeche Mode,
Moby Grape,
Byron Stingily,
Ituana,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Underground Resistance,
Robert Görl,
The Gun Club,
The Beau Brummels,
Michelle Simonal,
Avey Tare,
Ten City,
Fad Gadget,
Massinfluence,
Sonny Sharrock,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Crash Course in Science,
Laurel Aitken,
Boredoms,
Trumans Water, Trumans Water, Trumans Water, Trumans Water.
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.