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 Samoa and from Beijing.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Lindisfarne to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Aswad. All the underground hits.
All Boredoms tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Malaria! record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Larry & the Blue Notes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Be Bop Deluxe,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Isaac Hayes,
Severed Heads,
Camberwell Now,
Excepter,
Easy Going,
Von Mondo,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Negative Approach,
Kurtis Blow,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Animal Collective,
Brick,
Saccharine Trust,
Eden Ahbez,
Donald Byrd,
The Electric Prunes,
Gerry Rafferty,
Nik Kershaw,
Agent Orange,
Sonic Youth,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
E-Dancer,
Girls At Our Best!,
Hoover,
Index,
Flamin' Groovies,
Surgeon,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Porter Ricks,
Andrew Hill,
The Dead C,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Mojo Men,
Arab on Radar,
The Shadows of Knight,
Shuggie Otis,
K-Klass,
Nico,
Fear,
Fat Boys,
Bluetip,
Mary Jane Girls,
Joyce Sims,
Khruangbin,
Newcleus,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The American Breed,
Public Enemy,
Cheater Slicks,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Flipper,
Country Teasers,
Arcadia,
The Leaves,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Ultimate Spinach,
Jacques Brel,
Deadbeat,
Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid.
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.