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 Toronto.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Black Dice to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Public Enemy. All the underground hits.
All Albert Ayler tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Wyatt record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 güiro and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joyce Sims record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Althea and Donna,
Quantec,
Visage,
Archie Shepp,
Yellowson,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Henry Cow,
T. Rex,
Faraquet,
Arab on Radar,
Trumans Water,
Curtis Mayfield,
Grey Daturas,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Lucky Dragons,
Mark Hollis,
Shuggie Otis,
Graham Central Station,
Model 500,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Seeds,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
X-Ray Spex,
Brick,
Yaz,
Yazoo,
Slave,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Barracudas,
Fugazi,
The Birthday Party,
Robert Hood,
Joyce Sims,
Fad Gadget,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
DJ Style,
Judy Mowatt,
the Soft Cell,
Janne Schatter,
Max Romeo,
Gang Gang Dance,
Letta Mbulu,
Dead Boys,
Maleditus Sound,
Harry Pussy,
Grandmaster Flash,
Spoonie Gee,
Man Eating Sloth,
Alphaville,
Ultravox,
Stereo Dub,
Robert Görl,
Unwound,
Audionom,
Agent Orange,
Rod Modell,
Bang On A Can,
Vainqueur,
Delon & Dalcan, Delon & Dalcan, Delon & Dalcan, Delon & Dalcan.
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.