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 Taiwan and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Halifax 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Bush Tetras to the grime 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 Desert Stars. All the underground hits.
All The Moleskins tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sällskapet 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 harpsichord and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Babytalk record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Moby Grape,
T. Rex,
Erykah Badu,
Sight & Sound,
the Fania All-Stars,
Marcia Griffiths,
Howard Jones,
The Gap Band,
Avey Tare,
The Detroit Cobras,
the Slits,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Young Rascals,
David Axelrod,
John Lydon,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Carl Craig,
the Sonics,
Youth Brigade,
Ludus,
Guru Guru,
The Doors,
The Monks,
Sparks,
The Golliwogs,
Stockholm Monsters,
Grey Daturas,
Jandek,
Minor Threat,
Nas,
AZ,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Groovy Waters,
Thee Headcoats,
Glenn Branca,
Jeff Mills,
Jeff Lynne,
Minnie Riperton,
Aloha Tigers,
Shoche,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Kurtis Blow,
Swell Maps,
Laurel Aitken,
Mad Mike,
Surgeon,
Bad Manners,
Model 500,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Barry Ungar,
Camouflage,
Donald Byrd,
Gang Starr,
Funky Four + One,
Bush Tetras,
Cymande,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Japan,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Deadbeat,
Warsaw,
Absolute Body Control,
Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin.
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.