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 Poland and from Lyon.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Model 500 to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Robert Wyatt. All the underground hits.
All The Cowsills tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Prince Buster record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 güiro and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ohio Players record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mary Jane Girls,
Con Funk Shun,
Malaria!,
Avey Tare,
Glambeats Corp.,
Magazine,
Camouflage,
Neil Young,
Steve Hackett,
Thee Headcoats,
Bobby Sherman,
Jandek,
Terry Callier,
Crispian St. Peters,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Crash Course in Science,
Lucky Dragons,
Barrington Levy,
Slave,
Ten City,
Blossom Toes,
Quantec,
Yaz,
Liliput,
Sonny Sharrock,
Minny Pops,
June of 44,
Rufus Thomas,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Urselle,
Tres Demented,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Can,
The Mummies,
Rotary Connection,
Bauhaus,
Das Ding,
Black Bananas,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Jeru the Damaja,
Eve St. Jones,
The Music Machine,
Subhumans,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Dave Clark Five,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Technova,
Scratch Acid,
Pussy Galore,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Fela Kuti,
Fugazi,
Man Eating Sloth,
Wire,
Jeff Mills,
Black Sheep,
Jacob Miller,
Isaac Hayes,
Absolute Body Control,
Nik Kershaw,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Big Daddy Kane,
Funky Four + One,
Lou Reed, Lou Reed, Lou Reed, Lou Reed.
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.