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 Lesotho and from Sao Paulo.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the theremin 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 MDC to the punk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Section 25. All the underground hits.
All John Cale tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fat Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Slave,
The Cosmic Jokers,
The Pretty Things,
UT,
The Victims,
Scrapy,
Moby Grape,
The Searchers,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Arab on Radar,
the Germs,
the Fania All-Stars,
Bobby Byrd,
Donald Byrd,
Symarip,
World's Most,
David Axelrod,
Maleditus Sound,
B.T. Express,
Accadde A,
Kaleidoscope,
The Monochrome Set,
Circle Jerks,
The Offenders,
Joensuu 1685,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Spoonie Gee,
The United States of America,
Panda Bear,
Johnny Osbourne,
Al Stewart,
Amon Düül II,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Lyres,
Ludus,
Bronski Beat,
Funkadelic,
Jacob Miller,
Stockholm Monsters,
Stereo Dub,
One Last Wish,
The Barracudas,
Can,
The Angels of Light,
Darondo,
Matthew Halsall,
The Cure,
Cal Tjader,
Moss Icon,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Rufus Thomas,
Joe Finger,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Public Enemy,
Deadbeat,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Mission of Burma,
Buzzcocks,
The Associates,
Tomorrow,
Black Pus,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Motorama,
Alison Limerick, Alison Limerick, Alison Limerick, Alison Limerick.
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.