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 Montenegro and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Seoul.
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 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 Tom Verlaine 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 Jandek to the disco kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Stetsasonic. All the underground hits.
All Absolute Body Control tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joe Finger 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Brand Nubian record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Oneida,
Hoover,
Ultravox,
Sex Pistols,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Khruangbin,
Qualms,
Kurtis Blow,
Nik Kershaw,
Public Enemy,
Spoonie Gee,
Masters at Work,
The Sonics,
Pagans,
Radiohead,
Half Japanese,
Technova,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Ituana,
the Germs,
Lalann,
The Slackers,
Kenny Larkin,
Flipper,
MC5,
Ultra Naté,
The Pop Group,
Mark Hollis,
Chris & Cosey,
Letta Mbulu,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Television,
The Associates,
Barbara Tucker,
the Fania All-Stars,
Barrington Levy,
Althea and Donna,
The Invisible,
Suburban Knight,
Swans,
The Human League,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Jerry's Kids,
Depeche Mode,
The Beau Brummels,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Motorama,
ABC,
Siglo XX,
Fela Kuti,
Ponytail,
Roy Ayers,
Rhythm & Sound,
Davy DMX,
Gabor Szabo,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Kayak,
Pulsallama,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Evens, The Evens, The Evens, The Evens.
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.