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 Estonia and from Toronto.
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 1963 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Kaleidoscope to the techno kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Curtis Mayfield. All the underground hits.
All Jawbox tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Standells record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 a marimba and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Country Joe & The Fish,
Yusef Lateef,
The Black Dice,
Gang of Four,
Magazine,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Henry Cow,
Gang Starr,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Darondo,
Leonard Cohen,
Chrome,
Supertramp,
Al Stewart,
Bluetip,
Josef K,
T. Rex,
The Cure,
Altered Images,
The Smoke,
Underground Resistance,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Modern Lovers,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Gastr Del Sol,
June of 44,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
New Age Steppers,
Boz Scaggs,
DJ Sneak,
Alphaville,
Mr. Review,
Joey Negro,
Duran Duran,
The Dead C,
Pole,
Unwound,
Blake Baxter,
Visage,
Juan Atkins,
Alton Ellis,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Saccharine Trust,
Tim Buckley,
Electric Light Orchestra,
DNA,
Reagan Youth,
Flash Fearless,
Stiv Bators,
Ohio Players,
The Moody Blues,
Glambeats Corp.,
Bronski Beat,
Terry Callier,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Remains,
The Names,
Wally Richardson,
Zapp,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Nils Olav,
The American Breed, The American Breed, The American Breed, The American Breed.
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.