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 Haiti and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 Houston and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the theremin 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 Tremeloes to the rap 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 Grey Daturas. All the underground hits.
All Groovy Waters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Yellowson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Red Krayola,
Curtis Mayfield,
Cecil Taylor,
Henry Cow,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Scratch Acid,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Scrapy,
Bizarre Inc.,
Motorama,
Soul Sonic Force,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Black Flag,
The Angels of Light,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Mantronix,
Angry Samoans,
Kurtis Blow,
the Normal,
Matthew Bourne,
KRS-One,
Pantytec,
Wally Richardson,
Zapp,
R.M.O.,
Moby Grape,
Marshall Jefferson,
Drexciya,
Tommy Roe,
Infiniti,
JFA,
Sun Ra,
The Busters,
Theoretical Girls,
Adolescents,
The Litter,
The Buckinghams,
Eric Dolphy,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Peter and Kerry,
Television,
Kool Moe Dee,
Oneida,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
MDC,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
New Age Steppers,
Pierre Henry,
Soul II Soul,
A Certain Ratio,
Prince Buster,
John Lydon,
Ohio Players,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Danielle Patucci,
Slave,
Metal Thangz,
The Sound,
The Techniques,
Boredoms,
Cheater Slicks,
Moebius, Moebius, Moebius, Moebius.
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.