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 Togo and from Accra.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 oboe 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 Dual Sessions to the rock 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 Section 25. All the underground hits.
All Maurizio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Peter & Gordon record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric Copeland record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Barclay James Harvest,
Tomorrow,
Lyres,
Con Funk Shun,
Eric Copeland,
Derrick Morgan,
Patti Smith,
Nirvana,
Hashim,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Pylon,
Ralphi Rosario,
Gang Gang Dance,
Brand Nubian,
Ken Boothe,
Faust,
The Pretty Things,
LL Cool J,
The Smiths,
The Gories,
Dorothy Ashby,
Chris Corsano,
Jeff Mills,
DJ Style,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Cure,
Soft Machine,
John Coltrane,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Donny Hathaway,
Young Marble Giants,
Robert Wyatt,
Pantaleimon,
Robert Görl,
Derrick May,
Camberwell Now,
DNA,
Flamin' Groovies,
Alton Ellis,
Yaz,
Suburban Knight,
Deadbeat,
Negative Approach,
Funky Four + One,
Roy Ayers,
Jandek,
Maleditus Sound,
Siglo XX,
K-Klass,
Josef K,
Wasted Youth,
Yazoo,
Bluetip,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Half Japanese,
Scratch Acid,
The Five Americans,
Adolescents,
Johnny Clarke,
One Last Wish,
Erasure,
Circle Jerks,
Barrington Levy,
Harpers Bizarre, Harpers Bizarre, Harpers Bizarre, Harpers Bizarre.
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.