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 Burkina and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 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 Supertramp to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Dorothy Ashby. All the underground hits.
All Lyres tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Royal Family And The Poor record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Max Romeo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Yaz,
Ohio Players,
the Germs,
Lightning Bolt,
Anakelly,
Negative Approach,
The Smiths,
the Soft Cell,
The Selecter,
Babytalk,
MDC,
Scrapy,
The Black Dice,
Kas Product,
Camouflage,
Maurizio,
U.S. Maple,
Scratch Acid,
Model 500,
The Star Department,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Camberwell Now,
Maleditus Sound,
David Axelrod,
Black Moon,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Wolf Eyes,
MC5,
Ten City,
Wally Richardson,
Brothers Johnson,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Skarface,
Quantec,
Chris Corsano,
X-101,
Matthew Bourne,
Youth Brigade,
Motorama,
Moebius,
The United States of America,
The Golliwogs,
Derrick Morgan,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Sonics,
Bang On A Can,
The Index,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
World's Most,
Black Sheep,
The Count Five,
Donny Hathaway,
New York Dolls,
Sun Ra,
Unwound,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Birthday Party,
Rekid, Rekid, Rekid, Rekid.
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.