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 Swaziland and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Johnny Clarke to the rap kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 The Litter. All the underground hits.
All Ken Boothe tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Neil Young record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 an organ and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Spoonie Gee record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The United States of America,
Jacob Miller,
Roger Hodgson,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
John Cale,
Yazoo,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Knickerbockers,
The Walker Brothers,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Anthony Braxton,
Pagans,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Fortunes,
UT,
The Blues Magoos,
Donald Byrd,
Skaos,
Spandau Ballet,
Niagra,
The Seeds,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Angry Samoans,
The Dirtbombs,
JFA,
Audionom,
Gastr Del Sol,
Spoonie Gee,
The Moody Blues,
Kerrie Biddell,
Vainqueur,
Second Layer,
Quando Quango,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Gladiators,
Young Marble Giants,
The Electric Prunes,
Archie Shepp,
B.T. Express,
Bob Dylan,
Ronnie Foster,
The Golliwogs,
The Invisible,
The Remains,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Girls At Our Best!,
Kayak,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Infiniti,
Pole,
Rufus Thomas,
Underground Resistance,
The Associates,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Cal Tjader,
Jawbox,
Neil Young, Neil Young, Neil Young, Neil Young.
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.