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 Bahrain and from Portland.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
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 The Modern Lovers 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 Susan Cadogan. All the underground hits.
All Saccharine Trust tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Index record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bad Manners record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro 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?
Symarip,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Spoonie Gee,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Nirvana,
Lebanon Hanover,
Massinfluence,
Letta Mbulu,
Flamin' Groovies,
Swell Maps,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Fear,
The Mummies,
Joe Smooth,
Model 500,
Eve St. Jones,
Gerry Rafferty,
Alice Coltrane,
Pere Ubu,
Robert Hood,
Sarah Menescal,
Depeche Mode,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Hardrive,
The Monks,
Nick Fraelich,
Amon Düül II,
Joy Division,
Eric B and Rakim,
Man Parrish,
The Raincoats,
Idris Muhammad,
Andrew Hill,
The Slackers,
Zero Boys,
Lower 48,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Doobie Brothers,
Intrusion,
Duran Duran,
The Five Americans,
Eli Mardock,
48th St. Collective,
Livin' Joy,
Lindisfarne,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Reagan Youth,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
H. Thieme,
New Order,
Sandy B,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Japan,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Q65,
Tres Demented, Tres Demented, Tres Demented, Tres Demented.
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.