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 Qatar and from Salvador.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 808 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 Davy DMX to the rap kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Graham Central Station. All the underground hits.
All Terrestrial Tones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ponytail 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 an organ and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Quadrant record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nik Kershaw,
The Zeros,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Country Teasers,
Can,
Glenn Branca,
Funky Four + One,
The Divine Comedy,
Tim Buckley,
The Dead C,
June of 44,
Lakeside,
Yellowson,
Pharoah Sanders,
Brothers Johnson,
Slave,
In Retrospect,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Gong,
Kenny Larkin,
Moebius,
Livin' Joy,
Make Up,
Urselle,
Nas,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Associates,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Terry Callier,
Soft Machine,
Qualms,
These Immortal Souls,
Von Mondo,
Country Joe & The Fish,
MC5,
Albert Ayler,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Golliwogs,
The Gun Club,
Amon Düül II,
Kaleidoscope,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Cal Tjader,
The Index,
James White and The Blacks,
The Selecter,
Oneida,
The Real Kids,
the Human League,
Lucky Dragons,
Quantec,
The Raincoats,
AZ,
Y Pants,
Delta 5,
MDC,
Connie Case,
This Heat,
The Vogues,
Pierre Henry,
Monks,
Eric Dolphy,
Fela Kuti,
Grey Daturas, Grey Daturas, Grey Daturas, Grey Daturas.
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.