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 Armenia and from Milan.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines to the rock kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 The Real Kids. All the underground hits.
All The Flesh Eaters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Angry Samoans record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 clarinet and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Suburban Knight record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Smiths,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Alarm Clocks,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Cal Tjader,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Sister Nancy,
Avey Tare,
Quando Quango,
Banda Bassotti,
Symarip,
Theoretical Girls,
Youth Brigade,
Bootsy Collins,
Maleditus Sound,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Harmonia,
Slick Rick,
Colin Newman,
Heaven 17,
Deepchord,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Main Source,
Porter Ricks,
Ronnie Foster,
Nils Olav,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Searchers,
Sight & Sound,
Freddie Wadling,
The Knickerbockers,
The Skatalites,
Hardrive,
Iggy Pop,
Pylon,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Wolf Eyes,
Arab on Radar,
Bang On A Can,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Brand Nubian,
Janne Schatter,
U.S. Maple,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
the Swans,
FM Einheit,
The Fuzztones,
Magma,
Simply Red,
the Slits,
Ludus,
Index,
The United States of America,
Derrick May,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Fortunes,
Mission of Burma,
The Selecter,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Q65,
The Index,
John Cale, John Cale, John Cale, John Cale.
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.