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 El Salvador and from Seoul.
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 Columbus and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Brothers Johnson to the electroclash 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 Crispian St. Peters. All the underground hits.
All Desert Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Adolescents record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soul II Soul record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lalo Schifrin,
the Bar-Kays,
Derrick Morgan,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Severed Heads,
The Sonics,
Tres Demented,
Sarah Menescal,
The New Christs,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Real Kids,
Urselle,
Fela Kuti,
Rosa Yemen,
The Cramps,
Groovy Waters,
Piero Umiliani,
Subhumans,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Sandy B,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
David McCallum,
Cymande,
Babytalk,
MDC,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Average White Band,
Swell Maps,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Grauzone,
The Index,
Khruangbin,
Patti Smith,
Minnie Riperton,
Rufus Thomas,
The Kinks,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
a-ha,
Joey Negro,
The Walker Brothers,
The Blues Magoos,
Reuben Wilson,
Eve St. Jones,
Shuggie Otis,
Bob Dylan,
Goldenarms,
Stetsasonic,
Pantytec,
Peter & Gordon,
Ultra Naté,
Derrick May,
Drexciya,
the Soft Cell,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
DJ Style,
The Leaves,
Lakeside,
Nas,
La Düsseldorf,
Parry Music,
Cal Tjader, Cal Tjader, Cal Tjader, Cal Tjader.
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.