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 Morocco and from Toronto.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Average White Band 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 Wolf Eyes. All the underground hits.
All Gichy Dan tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Velvet Underground 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Busters record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bobby Womack,
Leonard Cohen,
Kas Product,
Brothers Johnson,
The Angels of Light,
Danielle Patucci,
Yellowson,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Harry Pussy,
Von Mondo,
Gabor Szabo,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Hashim,
Faust,
T.S.O.L.,
Desert Stars,
Livin' Joy,
Alphaville,
Boz Scaggs,
Stockholm Monsters,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Boogie Down Productions,
Brass Construction,
Porter Ricks,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Birthday Party,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
DNA,
Harmonia,
Graham Central Station,
Tubeway Army,
PIL,
Hardrive,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Dark Day,
Television Personalities,
Soft Machine,
Matthew Halsall,
Symarip,
Al Stewart,
Kevin Saunderson,
Pere Ubu,
The Names,
Radio Birdman,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Nas,
The Durutti Column,
48th St. Collective,
Bauhaus,
Young Marble Giants,
Lower 48,
Reuben Wilson,
Glenn Branca,
The Modern Lovers,
Dead Boys,
The Star Department,
Aloha Tigers,
Rites of Spring,
Negative Approach,
Model 500, Model 500, Model 500, Model 500.
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.