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 Nepal and from Johannesburg.
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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Halifax 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 at the first Suicide practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the oboe 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 The Gap Band to the dance 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 Swell Maps. All the underground hits.
All Eyeless In Gaza tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lungfish 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Blake Baxter record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Slits,
Ludus,
Schoolly D,
The Offenders,
Blossom Toes,
Althea and Donna,
Cecil Taylor,
Duran Duran,
The Smiths,
Scientists,
Throbbing Gristle,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Patti Smith,
Main Source,
Barbara Tucker,
June of 44,
Ken Boothe,
Peter & Gordon,
Guru Guru,
Tim Buckley,
Au Pairs,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Star Department,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
John Foxx,
Angry Samoans,
DNA,
Deadbeat,
Lucky Dragons,
Porter Ricks,
Adolescents,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Gil Scott Heron,
Robert Hood,
Ornette Coleman,
the Sonics,
Donald Byrd,
Circle Jerks,
Babytalk,
Sister Nancy,
Davy DMX,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Associates,
A Certain Ratio,
Avey Tare,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Black Flag,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Harmonia,
Pussy Galore,
Eden Ahbez,
Erasure,
MDC,
Roxy Music,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Parry Music,
D'Angelo,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Nils Olav,
The Fortunes,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Heaven 17, Heaven 17, Heaven 17, Heaven 17.
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.