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 Namibia and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Astoria.
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 Jesper Dahlback. All the underground hits.
All Radio Birdman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every John Foxx 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 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 Mary Jane Girls 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?
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Detroit Cobras,
X-Ray Spex,
Robert Wyatt,
Yellowson,
The Shadows of Knight,
Cluster,
U.S. Maple,
New York Dolls,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Eric Copeland,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Bootsy Collins,
Pharoah Sanders,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Porter Ricks,
Johnny Osbourne,
Letta Mbulu,
Stereo Dub,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Dave Gahan,
Mars,
KRS-One,
Darondo,
The Flesh Eaters,
Joyce Sims,
Marshall Jefferson,
Harpers Bizarre,
Lightning Bolt,
Warren Ellis,
The Star Department,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Young Marble Giants,
Pere Ubu,
Mantronix,
Anthony Braxton,
Bizarre Inc.,
Graham Central Station,
The Modern Lovers,
Basic Channel,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Skarface,
Howard Jones,
X-102,
John Coltrane,
Wire,
Crash Course in Science,
Unrelated Segments,
Reagan Youth,
Jacob Miller,
Qualms,
The Divine Comedy,
A Certain Ratio,
Alison Limerick,
The Cramps,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Victims,
Make Up,
Camouflage,
The Alarm Clocks,
Fugazi,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Subhumans, Subhumans, Subhumans, Subhumans.
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.