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 Venezuela and from Mumbai.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Rakim 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 Patti Smith. All the underground hits.
All Robert Wyatt tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bootsy Collins record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Mighty Diamonds record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Remains,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Music Machine,
The Grass Roots,
Bobby Womack,
Pere Ubu,
Depeche Mode,
Little Man,
Crash Course in Science,
Ronnie Foster,
La Düsseldorf,
Anthony Braxton,
Kerri Chandler,
OOIOO,
Ponytail,
Maurizio,
The Flesh Eaters,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Deakin,
Harpers Bizarre,
Radiopuhelimet,
Charles Mingus,
David Bowie,
Khruangbin,
cv313,
Masters at Work,
Yusef Lateef,
Rotary Connection,
Don Cherry,
CMW,
Barbara Tucker,
Darondo,
Ludus,
Kayak,
Niagra,
Public Image Ltd.,
Anakelly,
The Beau Brummels,
Arthur Verocai,
The Slits,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Minutemen,
the Slits,
Dual Sessions,
Maleditus Sound,
June of 44,
Fela Kuti,
Tres Demented,
In Retrospect,
Lungfish,
Livin' Joy,
Rufus Thomas,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
The Golliwogs,
Sister Nancy,
Josef K,
Icehouse,
ABBA,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Minny Pops,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Qualms, Qualms, Qualms, Qualms.
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.