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 Papua New Guinea and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1969 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the oboe 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 Thompson Twins to the rock kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Gary Puckett & The Union Gap. All the underground hits.
All Larry & the Blue Notes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every New Order 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Malaria! record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
T. Rex,
The Young Rascals,
Dennis Brown,
Davy DMX,
Bootsy Collins,
Gabor Szabo,
Pharoah Sanders,
Panda Bear,
Brothers Johnson,
Joensuu 1685,
Boz Scaggs,
Alphaville,
Eyeless In Gaza,
The Moody Blues,
Glambeats Corp.,
Los Fastidios,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Freddie Wadling,
Thee Headcoats,
Deepchord,
The Fugs,
Sexual Harrassment,
Clear Light,
JFA,
The Neon Judgement,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
La Düsseldorf,
Todd Rundgren,
U.S. Maple,
Jesper Dahlback,
Kas Product,
Spandau Ballet,
Bang On A Can,
Yellowson,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Trojans,
Boogie Down Productions,
Faraquet,
Soft Machine,
Excepter,
The Birthday Party,
Fad Gadget,
The Last Poets,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Loose Ends,
Jerry's Kids,
Grandmaster Flash,
Gang Gang Dance,
Zero Boys,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Minor Threat,
The Dirtbombs,
Marshall Jefferson,
Yazoo,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Joe Finger,
Japan,
Hasil Adkins,
Deadbeat,
Brand Nubian,
T.S.O.L.,
Banda Bassotti,
Al Stewart, Al Stewart, Al Stewart, Al Stewart.
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.