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 Guatemala and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 harpsichord 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 Scientists to the rock kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Lizzy Mercier Descloux. All the underground hits.
All Albert Ayler tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every John Coltrane record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 rhodes and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Wells record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Real Kids,
The Seeds,
Matthew Bourne,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Josef K,
Jawbox,
Archie Shepp,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Ultimate Spinach,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bronski Beat,
Buzzcocks,
Mandrill,
Donald Byrd,
Ice-T,
Rotary Connection,
10cc,
The Skatalites,
The Monks,
Minor Threat,
Bang On A Can,
Lyres,
DNA,
Goldenarms,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Hashim,
The Wake,
Man Eating Sloth,
Absolute Body Control,
Marshall Jefferson,
Sister Nancy,
Bill Near,
Television,
Jeff Lynne,
John Holt,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The Moody Blues,
Clear Light,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Chris & Cosey,
Mark Hollis,
Sandy B,
The Busters,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Dirtbombs,
Gerry Rafferty,
Panda Bear,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Public Enemy,
The Pretty Things,
Pole,
Joe Smooth,
Can,
John Cale,
U.S. Maple,
Technova,
Mantronix,
Moby Grape, Moby Grape, Moby Grape, Moby Grape.
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.