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 Singapore and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Grey Daturas to the disco kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 H. Thieme. All the underground hits.
All Pet Shop Boys 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 jazz 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 spring reverb and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Black Flag record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Birthday Party,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Bobby Sherman,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Pierre Henry,
Ten City,
Pole,
Ultimate Spinach,
Pagans,
Scott Walker,
David McCallum,
Eddi Front,
The Grass Roots,
Schoolly D,
Con Funk Shun,
Man Parrish,
Franke,
Electric Prunes,
Lucky Dragons,
Goldenarms,
Dawn Penn,
Khruangbin,
Ken Boothe,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Ultravox,
Radiohead,
The Motions,
Shuggie Otis,
Pussy Galore,
Boredoms,
Popol Vuh,
The United States of America,
Sixth Finger,
Freddie Wadling,
Crispy Ambulance,
Intrusion,
Oblivians,
Scion,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
FM Einheit,
Theoretical Girls,
Moby Grape,
Boogie Down Productions,
Neu!,
Ronnie Foster,
the Swans,
The Durutti Column,
Neil Young,
The Fortunes,
Godley & Creme,
John Lydon,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Depeche Mode,
A Certain Ratio,
Jeru the Damaja,
Joensuu 1685,
The Dead C,
Alphaville,
Parry Music,
The Index, The Index, The Index, The Index.
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.