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 Burundi and from Houston.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 Manchester and Columbus.
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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Blossom Toes to the disco kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Nation of Ulysses. All the underground hits.
All Yazoo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every cv313 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Curtis Mayfield record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nick Fraelich,
Lou Christie,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The United States of America,
B.T. Express,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Marmalade,
Scrapy,
The Monochrome Set,
Lou Reed,
Cameo,
Iggy Pop,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Joensuu 1685,
Khruangbin,
Mars,
Cybotron,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Trojans,
Icehouse,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Ice-T,
The Mojo Men,
Robert Hood,
Fear,
Juan Atkins,
Clear Light,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Ronan,
The Names,
Pharoah Sanders,
Smog,
Von Mondo,
Youth Brigade,
Interpol,
Laurel Aitken,
Lucky Dragons,
The Alarm Clocks,
Sparks,
Wolf Eyes,
Bob Dylan,
Ronnie Foster,
Marshall Jefferson,
Nation of Ulysses,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Ponytail,
The Human League,
Johnny Osbourne,
Mad Mike,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Cluster,
Idris Muhammad,
Anthony Braxton,
Bauhaus,
Joey Negro,
Japan,
Franke,
Crispian St. Peters,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Loose Ends,
Swans,
Liliput, Liliput, Liliput, Liliput.
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.