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 Algeria and from Stockholm.
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 1967 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 MC5 to the electroclash 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 J.B.'s. All the underground hits.
All Curtis Mayfield tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Names record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Silicon Teens record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Flash Fearless,
The Associates,
The Real Kids,
Saccharine Trust,
Royal Trux,
Crooked Eye,
Neil Young,
Accadde A,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The Five Americans,
Qualms,
Magma,
Jandek,
Main Source,
Tres Demented,
Alphaville,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Joensuu 1685,
Al Stewart,
Simply Red,
Stereo Dub,
The Standells,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Monks,
Metal Thangz,
Japan,
Eve St. Jones,
Y Pants,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Ice-T,
In Retrospect,
Juan Atkins,
One Last Wish,
The Human League,
Skarface,
Amazonics,
New Order,
Faraquet,
Cameo,
Derrick May,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Max Romeo,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Kayak,
Babytalk,
Bob Dylan,
Desert Stars,
Sun City Girls,
MC5,
Deepchord,
Nik Kershaw,
The Golliwogs,
The Cure,
Throbbing Gristle,
The American Breed,
Steve Hackett,
Young Marble Giants,
D'Angelo,
Supertramp,
The Happenings,
The Martian,
Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia.
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.