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 Venezuela and from Beijing.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Teenage Jesus and the Jerks to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Reagan Youth. All the underground hits.
All Ossler tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fort Wilson Riot record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric Dolphy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
U.S. Maple,
Amazonics,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Fela Kuti,
the Bar-Kays,
Pantaleimon,
Porter Ricks,
Kevin Saunderson,
Bluetip,
Letta Mbulu,
The Buckinghams,
Duran Duran,
Sight & Sound,
Gil Scott Heron,
Carl Craig,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Jawbox,
Tom Boy,
Negative Approach,
Cameo,
Hasil Adkins,
Marvin Gaye,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Blake Baxter,
8 Eyed Spy,
Stiv Bators,
Sunsets and Hearts,
World's Most,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Moody Blues,
John Holt,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Absolute Body Control,
OOIOO,
Throbbing Gristle,
E-Dancer,
Loose Ends,
Model 500,
New York Dolls,
Patti Smith,
The Divine Comedy,
Ohio Players,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Mars,
The Motions,
Albert Ayler,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Charles Mingus,
Saccharine Trust,
Animal Collective,
Alison Limerick,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Rekid,
Rotary Connection,
the Human League,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
John Cale,
K-Klass,
The Standells,
Infiniti,
The Gladiators,
The Seeds, The Seeds, The Seeds, The Seeds.
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.