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 Italy and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Masters at Work to the funk 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 Black Bananas. All the underground hits.
All Josef K tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Chris & Cosey record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Panda Bear record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
In Retrospect,
Y Pants,
Eden Ahbez,
Gang of Four,
Amon Düül II,
The United States of America,
The Raincoats,
Boogie Down Productions,
Jeff Lynne,
Subhumans,
Idris Muhammad,
Sparks,
Model 500,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Kayak,
June Days,
Skaos,
Crime,
Archie Shepp,
Scott Walker,
The Birthday Party,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Leaves,
Jeff Mills,
Amon Düül,
the Fania All-Stars,
Ituana,
The Moody Blues,
The Slits,
John Lydon,
The Trojans,
Robert Hood,
Mars,
Cluster,
The Associates,
The Buckinghams,
The Blues Magoos,
Eric Dolphy,
June of 44,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Ten City,
The Grass Roots,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Don Cherry,
Scratch Acid,
The Gladiators,
Ronan,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Barry Ungar,
the Association,
Organ,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Moss Icon,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Rhythm & Sound,
Wasted Youth,
Minutemen,
The Monochrome Set,
Sound Behaviour,
Brand Nubian,
Gang Green,
Grey Daturas,
the Swans,
Dead Boys, Dead Boys, Dead Boys, Dead Boys.
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.