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 Antigua and from Accra.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Hashim to the dance 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 Magma. All the underground hits.
All Sparks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Nas 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Mojo Men,
Camouflage,
Tropical Tobacco,
Boogie Down Productions,
Morten Harket,
Mr. Review,
Freddie Wadling,
Isaac Hayes,
The Stooges,
Harry Pussy,
Silicon Teens,
Stetsasonic,
OOIOO,
Gichy Dan,
Harmonia,
Zapp,
Brothers Johnson,
Ralphi Rosario,
CMW,
The Fall,
China Crisis,
June Days,
The Young Rascals,
Max Romeo,
Slave,
Yusef Lateef,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
the Germs,
The Count Five,
The Vogues,
Frankie Knuckles,
David McCallum,
The Toasters,
Monks,
Joyce Sims,
Crispian St. Peters,
Au Pairs,
Ponytail,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Flamin' Groovies,
Derrick Morgan,
Mad Mike,
The Dirtbombs,
Grey Daturas,
Suburban Knight,
Girls At Our Best!,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Bob Dylan,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Con Funk Shun,
The Seeds,
ABBA,
The Sonics,
David Bowie,
T. Rex,
Quadrant,
Drive Like Jehu,
Electric Prunes,
Panda Bear,
Ossler,
The Motions,
Desert Stars,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke.
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.