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 Tuvalu and from Taipei.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Art Ensemble Of Chicago to the techno kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Index. All the underground hits.
All Severed Heads tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every MC5 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Roy Ayers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Glenn Branca,
Ten City,
The Electric Prunes,
Soft Machine,
Amon Düül II,
Dave Gahan,
Throbbing Gristle,
Ronan,
Hashim,
Roy Ayers,
Slave,
48th St. Collective,
Crooked Eye,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Adolescents,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Gregory Isaacs,
Minnie Riperton,
Big Daddy Kane,
Joey Negro,
The Offenders,
Rakim,
Slick Rick,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Smog,
the Germs,
The Mojo Men,
KRS-One,
The Knickerbockers,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Cymande,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Wings,
Letta Mbulu,
The Skatalites,
New Order,
Piero Umiliani,
Essential Logic,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Kaleidoscope,
Mad Mike,
Michelle Simonal,
Soft Cell,
Zapp,
Prince Buster,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Faust,
Cecil Taylor,
Mo-Dettes,
Maleditus Sound,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Judy Mowatt,
Fad Gadget,
Vladislav Delay,
Procol Harum,
Main Source,
Deadbeat,
Outsiders,
In Retrospect,
the Slits,
Flash Fearless,
Au Pairs,
Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can.
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.