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 Barbados and from Calgary.
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 1960 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the theremin 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 Pretty Things to the dance kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Reagan Youth. All the underground hits.
All Nas tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Patti Smith record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Electric Prunes,
Charles Mingus,
Patti Smith,
Rakim,
Grandmaster Flash,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Ossler,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Soulsonic Force,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Babytalk,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Gang Gang Dance,
Nirvana,
Dave Gahan,
Black Pus,
Erasure,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Saints,
T.S.O.L.,
Nils Olav,
The Flesh Eaters,
Joe Smooth,
The Dave Clark Five,
Marine Girls,
Wire,
The Invisible,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
New Order,
Fluxion,
Agent Orange,
Joyce Sims,
Zero Boys,
Gabor Szabo,
Isaac Hayes,
Intrusion,
the Normal,
Ultra Naté,
Archie Shepp,
Man Eating Sloth,
Joe Finger,
Heaven 17,
Peter & Gordon,
Outsiders,
Gang of Four,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Smiths,
Rotary Connection,
James White and The Blacks,
the Slits,
Alphaville,
B.T. Express,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Unrelated Segments,
The Fuzztones,
Animal Collective,
Deadbeat,
Max Romeo,
Eden Ahbez,
The Techniques,
Graham Central Station,
Lou Reed,
Quantec, Quantec, Quantec, Quantec.
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.