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 Bahamas and from Seoul.
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 1960 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 The Doors to the grime 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 Donny Hathaway. All the underground hits.
All Larry & the Blue Notes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fall 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jandek record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Crime,
Drexciya,
Boz Scaggs,
The Residents,
Masters at Work,
Gastr Del Sol,
Livin' Joy,
Fugazi,
Lightning Bolt,
Eden Ahbez,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Red Krayola,
The Happenings,
John Cale,
Rhythm & Sound,
Guru Guru,
Toni Rubio,
Bob Dylan,
Pussy Galore,
Second Layer,
Gabor Szabo,
Junior Murvin,
Dead Boys,
Mantronix,
Pere Ubu,
Ituana,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Walker Brothers,
The Searchers,
Susan Cadogan,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Negative Approach,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Silicon Teens,
F. McDonald,
Aloha Tigers,
Brass Construction,
Tim Buckley,
The Grass Roots,
The Motions,
Whodini,
Jacques Brel,
John Lydon,
Theoretical Girls,
Depeche Mode,
Bluetip,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Jeru the Damaja,
Agent Orange,
Mad Mike,
Main Source,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Section 25,
Howard Jones,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Zapp,
The Electric Prunes,
Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl.
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.