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 Marshall Islands and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in London.
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 1962 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 sitar 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 Art Ensemble Of Chicago to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. All the underground hits.
All The Flesh Eaters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kevin Saunderson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 a marimba and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bob Dylan,
Kurtis Blow,
Dennis Brown,
Charles Mingus,
Scratch Acid,
The Wake,
Circle Jerks,
Chris Corsano,
Toni Rubio,
Index,
Bill Near,
Fela Kuti,
Bluetip,
Sixth Finger,
Eli Mardock,
The Neon Judgement,
Jimmy McGriff,
Sister Nancy,
Cal Tjader,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Au Pairs,
Metal Thangz,
Surgeon,
Josef K,
Organ,
Eve St. Jones,
Soul II Soul,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Wire,
Rotary Connection,
Jandek,
Glenn Branca,
Crispian St. Peters,
Joe Finger,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Excepter,
10cc,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Remains,
Jeff Mills,
New Age Steppers,
Moss Icon,
PIL,
the Bar-Kays,
Joensuu 1685,
Nas,
Ituana,
Hashim,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Saints,
John Holt,
Fatback Band,
Second Layer,
Wasted Youth,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Mo-Dettes,
Rhythm & Sound,
Sällskapet,
The Black Dice,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Pylon,
Oneida, Oneida, Oneida, Oneida.
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.