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 Kyrgyzstan and from Jakarta.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Bremen.
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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 John Holt to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Rotary Connection. All the underground hits.
All The American Breed tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Dirtbombs 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Matthew Halsall,
Minor Threat,
The Blues Magoos,
Fatback Band,
Terry Callier,
Jacob Miller,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Grass Roots,
Crime,
New York Dolls,
Darondo,
Sonic Youth,
Yusef Lateef,
Intrusion,
Mary Jane Girls,
Altered Images,
Letta Mbulu,
Man Eating Sloth,
kango's stein massive,
Lou Christie,
Cluster,
Groovy Waters,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Raincoats,
Kayak,
The Count Five,
Joy Division,
Brothers Johnson,
John Cale,
Deakin,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Index,
Kool Moe Dee,
Sun Ra,
FM Einheit,
Cymande,
Ultravox,
Q and Not U,
10cc,
Colin Newman,
Peter and Kerry,
Alphaville,
Tommy Roe,
Althea and Donna,
Accadde A,
Cal Tjader,
the Slits,
Rufus Thomas,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Blake Baxter,
Surgeon,
Severed Heads,
Harpers Bizarre,
Pantaleimon,
Dead Boys,
Gang of Four,
The Invisible,
The Birthday Party,
Nick Fraelich,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Blackbyrds, The Blackbyrds, The Blackbyrds, The Blackbyrds.
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.