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 Macedonia and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1966 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 clarinet 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 Dorothy Ashby 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 Johnny Clarke. All the underground hits.
All Gregory Isaacs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every ABC record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
David McCallum,
James White and The Blacks,
Mandrill,
Funkadelic,
The Modern Lovers,
Todd Terry,
The Victims,
Yellowson,
Accadde A,
Marvin Gaye,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Don Cherry,
Faust,
In Retrospect,
Hot Snakes,
Hardrive,
Depeche Mode,
Talk Talk,
Chrome,
Oneida,
Peter and Kerry,
The Fall,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Fire Engines,
Ultravox,
Tom Boy,
Youth Brigade,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Theoretical Girls,
Au Pairs,
Byron Stingily,
Spandau Ballet,
Deepchord,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Dirtbombs,
Harpers Bizarre,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Sonics,
Kaleidoscope,
June Days,
The Trojans,
Index,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
cv313,
Eric B and Rakim,
Goldenarms,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Mark Hollis,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Jacob Miller,
Bronski Beat,
Dead Boys,
Dual Sessions,
Oblivians,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Little Man,
Sarah Menescal,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Fluxion,
Absolute Body Control, Absolute Body Control, Absolute Body Control, Absolute Body Control.
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.