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 Honduras and from Lagos.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the snare 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 The Blues Magoos to the jazz 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 Cal Tjader. All the underground hits.
All The Toasters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jandek 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Angels of Light & Akron/Family record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Magazine,
Agent Orange,
T. Rex,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
The Detroit Cobras,
The Wake,
Tomorrow,
Accadde A,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
L. Decosne,
Throbbing Gristle,
the Normal,
The Grass Roots,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Raincoats,
Quantec,
Grey Daturas,
Marvin Gaye,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Juan Atkins,
Surgeon,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Bad Manners,
Gang of Four,
Swans,
Country Teasers,
Pagans,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Pop Group,
Amazonics,
Alphaville,
Massinfluence,
The Smoke,
Joe Finger,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Clear Light,
Big Daddy Kane,
Make Up,
Jeff Mills,
Sugar Minott,
Joy Division,
Easy Going,
X-101,
the Slits,
Absolute Body Control,
Fela Kuti,
Fifty Foot Hose,
A Flock of Seagulls,
the Sonics,
Procol Harum,
Dorothy Ashby,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Velvet Underground,
8 Eyed Spy,
New Order,
Angry Samoans,
Pet Shop Boys,
Zero Boys,
Yazoo,
Minor Threat,
Charles Mingus,
Sam Rivers,
The Monks,
Yaz, Yaz, Yaz, Yaz.
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.