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 Romania and from Hong Kong.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Jacques Brel to the punk 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 Avey Tare. All the underground hits.
All Y Pants tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every KRS-One record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nation of Ulysses record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Josef K,
Davy DMX,
Masters at Work,
Soulsonic Force,
Jeff Mills,
Bootsy Collins,
Anakelly,
Young Marble Giants,
Marmalade,
Charles Mingus,
Chrome,
MC5,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Victims,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Wasted Youth,
10cc,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Pharoah Sanders,
Severed Heads,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Symarip,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Arcadia,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Selecter,
Sam Rivers,
Chris Corsano,
Nik Kershaw,
Joe Finger,
the Slits,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Theoretical Girls,
The Seeds,
Das Ding,
Ossler,
Althea and Donna,
Peter and Kerry,
Pagans,
Arab on Radar,
The Mojo Men,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Modern Lovers,
Soft Cell,
Marshall Jefferson,
June of 44,
Bobby Byrd,
Eddi Front,
Zapp,
Deepchord,
Oneida,
48th St. Collective,
Stetsasonic,
Curtis Mayfield,
Marvin Gaye,
Nation of Ulysses,
Model 500,
Jerry's Kids,
Crispy Ambulance,
Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can.
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.