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 Philippines and from Shanghai.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Eurythmics to the rock 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 Alison Limerick. All the underground hits.
All 48th St. Collective tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Terrestrial Tones record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Faust record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Arab on Radar,
Man Parrish,
Bush Tetras,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Toni Rubio,
Kerrie Biddell,
Lucky Dragons,
The Mojo Men,
Pere Ubu,
Moss Icon,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
The Misunderstood,
Hardrive,
Man Eating Sloth,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Sarah Menescal,
Easy Going,
The Real Kids,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Piero Umiliani,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Newcleus,
The Zeros,
Jimmy McGriff,
Los Fastidios,
The Count Five,
The Pretty Things,
Animal Collective,
The Remains,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Crispian St. Peters,
Cecil Taylor,
Cluster,
the Germs,
Deepchord,
The Motions,
The Associates,
Laurel Aitken,
The Names,
Ultravox,
Gichy Dan,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Vladislav Delay,
cv313,
Mary Jane Girls,
Jawbox,
the Human League,
Harmonia,
Scrapy,
Chris & Cosey,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Ultra Naté,
Silicon Teens,
The Doors,
Livin' Joy,
James White and The Blacks,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Harpers Bizarre,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Cymande, Cymande, Cymande, Cymande.
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.