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 Kazakhstan 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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 linndrum 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 Donald Byrd to the funk 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 Amazonics. All the underground hits.
All The Fire Engines tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Clarke record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 marimba and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a MDC record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Girls At Our Best!,
The Techniques,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Sarah Menescal,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Suicide,
K-Klass,
MC5,
Goldenarms,
Eurythmics,
Stereo Dub,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Dark Day,
Deadbeat,
The Invisible,
Sound Behaviour,
The Five Americans,
Aloha Tigers,
The Pop Group,
Chris & Cosey,
Ludus,
Marvin Gaye,
Skaos,
Zero Boys,
Second Layer,
Television,
Marc Almond,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Blake Baxter,
Swans,
Lalo Schifrin,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Inner City,
Masters at Work,
The Smoke,
Index,
Marmalade,
Unwound,
One Last Wish,
Tim Buckley,
Sällskapet,
The Moleskins,
Lou Reed,
Nick Fraelich,
Sexual Harrassment,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Offenders,
The Move,
The Smiths,
Mary Jane Girls,
Yazoo,
The Selecter,
Jacob Miller,
Pole,
Parry Music,
Main Source,
Soft Machine,
Skarface, Skarface, Skarface, Skarface.
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.