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 Sweden and from New York.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Bill Wells to the dance kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Ludus. All the underground hits.
All Magazine tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Pop Group record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Heaven 17 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Associates,
Mary Jane Girls,
Peter and Kerry,
Spoonie Gee,
Amon Düül II,
Groovy Waters,
Nick Fraelich,
Jacob Miller,
Mantronix,
Wally Richardson,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Oblivians,
Grandmaster Flash,
Ten City,
Donny Hathaway,
John Coltrane,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
MDC,
Babytalk,
Lightning Bolt,
The Kinks,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
David McCallum,
Reagan Youth,
Soulsonic Force,
The Gladiators,
The Standells,
Young Marble Giants,
Animal Collective,
the Bar-Kays,
Erasure,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
the Soft Cell,
The Leaves,
Pharoah Sanders,
Isaac Hayes,
Malaria!,
The Busters,
Albert Ayler,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
These Immortal Souls,
Nation of Ulysses,
Liliput,
Swans,
Cameo,
Nico,
The Tremeloes,
Talk Talk,
The Walker Brothers,
Con Funk Shun,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Japan,
Altered Images,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Joensuu 1685,
Joey Negro,
Throbbing Gristle,
Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana.
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.