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 Estonia and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 theremin 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 Gary Puckett & The Union Gap to the punk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Mo-Dettes. All the underground hits.
All Lungfish tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Black Pus 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 808 and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Subhumans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Minnie Riperton,
Scrapy,
Don Cherry,
Scratch Acid,
Idris Muhammad,
Electric Prunes,
Jeff Lynne,
Aswad,
Pere Ubu,
Brass Construction,
Kerrie Biddell,
Freddie Wadling,
La Düsseldorf,
Soul II Soul,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Adolescents,
Crime,
LL Cool J,
The Martian,
U.S. Maple,
Pharoah Sanders,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Chrome,
Procol Harum,
Ultra Naté,
Maleditus Sound,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Fatback Band,
Bad Manners,
Sandy B,
Jacques Brel,
Zero Boys,
Janne Schatter,
Accadde A,
Anthony Braxton,
Nik Kershaw,
KRS-One,
Joey Negro,
Motorama,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Star Department,
Marc Almond,
UT,
Flash Fearless,
Spoonie Gee,
T.S.O.L.,
Drexciya,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Flesh Eaters,
Archie Shepp,
Dave Gahan,
The Gladiators,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Peter and Kerry,
E-Dancer,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Gang of Four,
Arthur Verocai,
Minutemen,
Boz Scaggs,
The Seeds, The Seeds, The Seeds, The Seeds.
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.