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 Mexico and from London.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1968 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Black Flag to the jazz 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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All Sun Ra Arkestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sun City Girls 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Beasts of Bourbon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Masters at Work,
Sandy B,
Echospace,
Harry Pussy,
The Dead C,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Morten Harket,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
June of 44,
Cal Tjader,
Hardrive,
Loose Ends,
Marvin Gaye,
The Martian,
Howard Jones,
Severed Heads,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Lightning Bolt,
Sight & Sound,
In Retrospect,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Blossom Toes,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Beau Brummels,
Connie Case,
the Germs,
The Cure,
ABC,
Brand Nubian,
Stereo Dub,
Skriet,
The Victims,
Bobby Byrd,
Section 25,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Kerrie Biddell,
Michelle Simonal,
UT,
Black Moon,
Porter Ricks,
Sam Rivers,
Vainqueur,
Second Layer,
Jesper Dahlback,
Mo-Dettes,
The Black Dice,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Kurtis Blow,
Aswad,
Aaron Thompson,
Gastr Del Sol,
Hasil Adkins,
Andrew Hill,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Juan Atkins,
Tommy Roe,
Rites of Spring,
Nation of Ulysses,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Nico, Nico, Nico, Nico.
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.