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 Gabon and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1962 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Halifax.
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 Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Lalo Schifrin to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Names. All the underground hits.
All Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Oblivians record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 oboe and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Nik Kershaw,
Yazoo,
Archie Shepp,
Babytalk,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Altered Images,
MDC,
Kevin Saunderson,
The Vogues,
Camouflage,
The Red Krayola,
Traffic Nightmare,
Reagan Youth,
Robert Wyatt,
Tomorrow,
Excepter,
Brothers Johnson,
Lungfish,
Rotary Connection,
Animal Collective,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Saccharine Trust,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Frankie Knuckles,
Zero Boys,
The Mojo Men,
Ossler,
Television Personalities,
Smog,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Cowsills,
Nils Olav,
D'Angelo,
Erykah Badu,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
World's Most,
the Normal,
Moby Grape,
The Doors,
Circle Jerks,
Johnny Osbourne,
Josef K,
Tim Buckley,
Marine Girls,
Gabor Szabo,
Ponytail,
Bizarre Inc.,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Moleskins,
Connie Case,
Livin' Joy,
Cybotron,
Surgeon,
Jeff Lynne,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Evens,
Grandmaster Flash,
Yusef Lateef,
Essential Logic,
The Raincoats, The Raincoats, The Raincoats, The Raincoats.
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.