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 South Sudan and from Tehran.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the oboe 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 Jimmy McGriff to the crunk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Flamin' Groovies. All the underground hits.
All Lucky Dragons tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Schoolly D 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kaleidoscope record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Jerry's Kids,
Lindisfarne,
The Move,
Be Bop Deluxe,
John Lydon,
Neu!,
Susan Cadogan,
Dead Boys,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Pagans,
X-101,
Absolute Body Control,
Eden Ahbez,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Faraquet,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Last Poets,
Bizarre Inc.,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Can,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Cowsills,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Ponytail,
The Modern Lovers,
Inner City,
Little Man,
Junior Murvin,
Motorama,
the Fania All-Stars,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Dorothy Ashby,
Suburban Knight,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Symarip,
Ten City,
Davy DMX,
Liliput,
Tres Demented,
U.S. Maple,
Ossler,
Loose Ends,
Pole,
Aloha Tigers,
Lou Christie,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Interpol,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Deepchord,
The Grass Roots,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
June Days,
Spandau Ballet,
Bush Tetras,
Sex Pistols,
Massinfluence,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Barrington Levy,
Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl.
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.