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 Paraguay and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1965 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan to the techno kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Rufus Thomas. All the underground hits.
All Royal Trux tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang on a Can All-Stars 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Althea and Donna record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James White and The Blacks,
Donald Byrd,
Roxette,
Jeru the Damaja,
Pantytec,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Trojans,
Kenny Larkin,
In Retrospect,
Marmalade,
Black Flag,
The Golliwogs,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Kevin Saunderson,
Chrome,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Aloha Tigers,
Nico,
Amon Düül II,
Swans,
Boogie Down Productions,
Blancmange,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Janne Schatter,
Kaleidoscope,
Slick Rick,
Accadde A,
Brass Construction,
Hot Snakes,
The Gladiators,
Sparks,
Siglo XX,
K-Klass,
Model 500,
Lee Hazlewood,
Radio Birdman,
Jeff Lynne,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
John Lydon,
Rites of Spring,
B.T. Express,
Fear,
Guru Guru,
The Monks,
Fela Kuti,
The Smoke,
Fat Boys,
Bang On A Can,
Bill Near,
John Coltrane,
Danielle Patucci,
Second Layer,
The Barracudas,
Pantaleimon,
Fad Gadget,
The Slackers,
Ken Boothe,
Josef K,
The Move,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
the Germs,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Dirtbombs,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
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.