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 Ethiopia and from Woodstock.
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 1963 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Supertramp to the punk 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 Fear. All the underground hits.
All The Slits tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang on a Can All-Stars 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Star Department record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soft Machine,
Lyres,
Qualms,
Negative Approach,
Vladislav Delay,
Unwound,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Johnny Clarke,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
New York Dolls,
David Axelrod,
Bobby Womack,
Royal Trux,
New Order,
John Foxx,
John Holt,
Youth Brigade,
Section 25,
The Happenings,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Rhythm & Sound,
Bill Wells,
Marvin Gaye,
Flash Fearless,
Bang On A Can,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Dual Sessions,
the Germs,
Jerry Gold Smith,
ABBA,
Kool Moe Dee,
Johnny Osbourne,
Donald Byrd,
Pet Shop Boys,
Byron Stingily,
Crispy Ambulance,
New Age Steppers,
Quadrant,
Panda Bear,
Lalann,
Franke,
Rod Modell,
Altered Images,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Yaz,
Man Parrish,
Mo-Dettes,
The Slits,
Swell Maps,
The Kinks,
Television Personalities,
Arcadia,
A Certain Ratio,
Bronski Beat,
The Wake,
The Gladiators,
Joyce Sims,
Neil Young,
The Stooges,
Faraquet,
Easy Going,
Terrestrial Tones,
Crime, Crime, Crime, Crime.
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.